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SELECTIONS 


FROM    THE 


LETTERS  OE  EGBERT  SOUTHEY. 


VOL.  in 


London : 
Printed  by  Spottiswoode  &  Co. 
New-8treet-Square. 


SELECTIONS 


FKOM  THE 


LETTERS  OF   ROBERT   SOUTHEY, 


&c.     &c.     &c. 


EDITED  BY   HIS   SON-IN-LAW 

JOHN    WOOD    WARTER,    B,D. 

CHRIST     CHURCH,     OXFORD; 
VICAB  OF  WEST  TARRING,  SUSSEX. 


Southey's  Letters  show  his  true  Character." 

Walter  Savaoe  Landor, 

MS.  Letter  to  Mrs.  Southey,  April  28.  1843. 


IN    FOUR    VOLUMES. 

VOL.  ni. 


LONDON: 
LONGMAN,  BROWN,  GREEN,  LONGMANS,  &  ROBERTS. 

1856. 


nr.S 


LETTERS 


OF 


ROBERT     SOUTHEY. 


To  Miss  Barker. 


London,  Nov,  9.  1815. 

I  AM  afraid,   Senliora,  that  the  letters,  which  I  wrote 
from  Brussels    did    not    reach   their    destination,    for 
there  is   no   allusion  to  them  in   those  which  we  have 
received  from  the  Venerable  *  and  the  juvenile  Moon. 
One  was  a  second  letter  of  wonders,  carrying  us,  if  I  re- 
collect rightly,    to  Ghent.      The  other  was  to  yourself, 
and  brought  our  history  as  far  as  Brussels.     I  found  it 
impossible  to  write   anything  more  than   my  journal, 
which  occupied  every  minute   I  could   spare,  even  on 
those  days  when  we  were  stationary.     You  know  how 
little  leisure  is  to  be   obtained    in  a  foreign  country, 
when  your  curiosity  is  always  on  the  alert,  and  eyes  and 
ears  both  upon  active  service  from  morning  till  night. 

You  shall,  however,  have  our  whole  history  in  due 
form  when  we  return.  My  journal  is  very  full.  That 
portion  which  relates  to  the  fields  of  battle  I  shall 
extract,  and  affix  either  as  preface  or  postscript  to  my 

*  This  was  Mrs.  Coleridge's  household  name. 
VOL.  III.  B 


2  LETTERS   OP  1815. 

projected  poem.  The  rest  I  may  arrange  and  fill  up  at 
leisure  to  leave  among  my  papers.  Here  in  London  I 
can  find  time  for  nothing ;  and  to  make  things  worse, 
the  devil,  who  owes  me  an  old  grudge,  has  made  me  sit 
to  Philipps  for  a  picture  for  Murray.  I  have  in  my 
time  been  tormented  in  this  manner  so  often,  and  to 
such  little  purpose,  that  I  am  half  tempted  to  suppose 
the  devil  was  the  inventor  of  portrait  painting. 

To-day  (Thursday)  we  are  to  see  the  Lord  Mayor's 
Show.  It  is  raining,  and  will  continue  to  rain.  We  go 
in  about  an  hour  to  Rickman's,  to  see  tlie  water  part 
of  the  pageant;  then  to  Josiah  Conder's  in  St.  Paul's 
Church  Yard,  to  see  the  procession  by  land.  To-morrow 
for  Streatham,  between  which  place  and  Champion  Hill 
(Mrs.  Gonne's)  we  shall  remain  till  the  Saturday  of  next 
week :  on  that  day  we  go  to  John  May's,  and  return 
from  his  house  to  London  on  the  Monday ;  then,  after 
four  or,  at  the  most,  five  days,  we  set  off  on  our  return, 
for  which  we  are  all  equally  impatient.  T  am  weary  of 
this  continual  movement  and  bustle,  and  long  most 
heartily  to  be  once  more  at  home  and  at  work,  —  the 
best  kind  of  rest. 

I  have  bought  for  the  Mountain  Marshal  a  cuirassier's 
pistol  from  the  spoil  at  Waterloo,  and  also  a  piece  of 
kick-man-jiggery  from  Aix-la-Chapelle,  which,  being  a 
very  out  of  the  way  sort  of  thing,  and  pretending  to  be 
useful,  is  more  fit  for  the  said  Marshal  than  for  anybody 
else.  There  is  as  yet  no  news  of  any  of  my  books. 
There  are  some  Dutch  volumes  among  them  ("  Lives 
of  the  Painters  "),  with  heads  by  Houbracken  :  some  of 
the  very  finest  of  his  works. 

I  am  writing  upon  Herbert's  desk,  and  I  mend  my 
pen  with  Herbert's  knife  ;  a  knife  of  queer  cut  from 
Namur,  containing  two  blades  and  corkscrew,  and  steel 
for  striking  fire  to  light  his  pipe,  and  an  instrument  for 
picking  the  pipe  :   the  latter  will  serve  to  untie  parcels. 


1815.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  3 

and  I  have  a  flint  from  Waterloo  with  which  he  may 
strike  light  when  we  want  a  fire  by  the  lake  side.  We 
have  a  friar  apiece  for  Kate  and  Isabel,  a  friar  on 
horseback  for  Bertha,  and  two  nuns  who  are  to  be  dis- 
posed of  I  know  not  how.  Betty  will  be  glad  to  hear 
that  I  have  been  mindful  of  her  commission,  and  bought 
four  sponges,  taking  Shedaw  for  my  counsellor  in  the 
choice.  We  are  to  spend  one  whole  morning  in  shop- 
ping before  we  leave  London. 

Whether  I  am  one  of  those  persons  who  know  how 
to  spend  and  how  to  spare,  is  not  for  me  to  determine, 
but  I  have  been  both  spending  and  sparing  more  than  I 
wished.  My  gold  has  fled  like  chafl"  before  the  wind. 
You  will  lend  me  lOOZ.  on  my  return,  to  set  all  straight, 
as  they  say  in  Cumberland,  and  it  will  not  be  very  long 
before  I  shall  be  able  to  set  that  amount  straight  also. 
"  Roderick "  is  doing  well,  and  has  given  me  a  good 
lift ;  its  work  is  not  done  yet,  and  it  may  possibly  set 
us  fairly  afloat  in  smooth  water.  My  Waterloo  poem 
will  get  me  more  credit  than  money.  There  is  one 
friend  to  whom  I  look  for  both  —  that  emine7it  physician 
whose  house  Ireconnoitred  at  Doncaster*  God  bless  you. 
Love  from  all  to  all,  and  kisses  as  many  as  you  please 
to  give  to  the  kissable  part  of  the  family.  The  Doctor, 
in  particular,  desires  his  remembrances.  You  must  not 
go  to  London  this  winter,  and  perhaps  next  year  I  may 
accompany  you  to  visit  the  ruins  of  Paris.  I  almost 
expect  a  massacre  of  the  aUied  troops,  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  that  city. 

The  first  Mina  is  in  London,  and  I  shall  see  him. 
My  letters  need  not  be  sent.  Remember  me  to  the 
General  and  Mrs.  Peachey.  The  other  General  (Mrs. 
Coleridge's  friend)    I  have  seen;   he   is   living  with   a 

*  "  His  premeditated  work,  '  Doctor  Daniel  Dove,  of  Doncaster' 
■which  was  to  have  been  dedicated  to  me. 

"  Mart  Slade,  nee  Barker." 
B  2 


4  LETTERS    OF  1815. 

Jewish  quack,  wlio  calls  himself  an  Italian,  the  most 
impudent  of  his  fraternity.  This  fellow's  name  is  on 
the  door,  and  I  believe  he  lives  upon  the  General, 
whose  credulity  in  such  things  amounts  to  absolute 
insanity.  Once  more,  God  bless  you.  I  long  to  sing 
my  bravura  at  home  once  more. 

Yours  affectionately. 

Iv.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Streatham,  Nov.  17.  1815. 
My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  have  written  a  letter  to  Gifford,  which  I  shall 
not  be  able  to  despatch  till  to-morrow,  when  the  proof 
may  accompany  it.  I  hope  he  will  show  it  you.  What 
effect  it  may  produce  Heaven  knows.  Bring  with  you 
the  sheets  of  the  article,  in  their  original  state,  when  you 
come  to  Queen  Anne  Street;  they  are  become  curious. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  I  may  offend  Croker  by  the  man- 
ner in  which  (without  alluding  to  him)  I  have  pointed 
out  the  impolicy  and  injustice  of  his  interpolations.  If 
it  be  so,  so  it  may  be.  He  may  say  what  he  pleases  in 
his  own  person,  and  call  black  white  if  he  likes  it,  but  it 
is  presuming  too  much  to  do  this  in  mine.  Fools  that 
these  people  are  !  as  if  there  were  any  living  man  who 
is  more  disposed  to  render  full  justice  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  than  I  am,  or  who  had  equally  the  will  and 
the  power  to  bestow  upon  him  the  highest  and  most 
lasting  praise.     God  bless  you. 

li.  S. 


1815.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  0 

To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  8fc. 

Keswick,  "Wednesday,  Dec.  6.  1815. 

We  reached  home  to-day,  after  a  safe  journey; 
the  weather  loo  wet  to  be  cold,  so  that  we  suffered  little 
other  discomfort  than  that  of  fatigue.  Edith  May 
grew  better  as  we  advanced  further  from  London,  and 
I  trust  that  her  usual  habits  will  soon  restore  her  to  her 
usual  health.* 

I  had  no  opportunity,  when  last  we  met,  to  tell  you 
what  has  passed  concerning  the  "  Quarterly  Review."  In 
consequence  of  my  letter  to  Gifford,  which  you  saw,  I 
found  that  the  interpolations  came  from  no  less  a  per- 
sonage than  the  Duke  himself,  who  thought  proper, 
through  Croker,  to  make  me  his  tool.  I  spoke  as  be- 
came me  upon  the  occasion  ;  insisted  upon  stopping  the 
press,  carried  my  point,  struck  out  the  falsehoods  which 
had  been  inserted,  and  replaced  what  had  been  struck 
out.     Upon  seeing  the  former  part  of  the  article  (the 

*  The  following  lines  are  from  the  proem  to  the  "  Pilgrimage  to 
Waterloo  " :  — 

"  The  young  companion  of  our  weary  way 

Found  here  the  end  desired  of  all  her  ills ; 
She  who  in  sickness  pining  many  a  day, 

Hunger'd  and  thirsted  for  her  native  hills, 
Forgetful  now  of  suflerings  past,  and  pain, 
Rejoiced  to  see  her  own  dear  home  again. 

"  Recover'd  now,  the  home-sick  mountaineer 

Sate  by  the  playmate  of  her  infancy, 
Her  twin-like  comrade  S  render'd  doubly  dear 

For  that  long  absence  ;  full  of  life  was  she, 
With  voluble  discourse  and  eager  mien. 
Telling  of  all  the  wonders  she  had  seen." 


Mrs.  Warter's  "  twin-like  comrade  "  was  poor  Sara  Coleridge. 

B  .0 


6  LETTERS   OF  1815. 

proofs  of  which  had  not  been  sent  me),  I  find  a  passage 
interpolated  about  the  Convention  of  Cintra,  which  is 
contrary  to  my  own  expressed  opinion.  This  I  shall 
resist,  and  insist  upon  it  that  nothing  hereafter  be  in- 
serted in  any  paper  of  mine  without  my  consent ;  other- 
wise I  will  withdraw  from  the  work.  I  had  an  inter- 
view at  the  Admiralty  after  the  business,  and  it  was 
curious  to  observe  how  carefully  the  subject  was  avoided, 
and  yet  what  concessions  were  made,  and  civilities 
shown,  in  reference  to  it. 

I  shall  be  anxious  to  hear  how  your  leg  is  going  on. 
My  table  is  covered  with  letters. 

I  was  much  pleased  with  Mina,  and  shall  get  from 
him  a  sketch  of  his  own  history.  With  Frere  also  I  am 
likely  to  have  much  correspondence.  He  has  been  a 
very  ill-used  man,  and  is  perfectly  aware  that  I  am 
likely  to  prove  his  best  friend.  Of  course  he  is  able  to 
give  me  much  information  ;  but  I  was  much  gratified 
by  finding  that,  on  most  points,  the  opinion  which  I 
had  previously  formed  was  strengthened  and  confirmed 
by  what  he  communicated. 

My  love  to  my  aunt  and  the  bairn. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  J.  Neville  White,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Dec.  8.  1815. 
My  dear  Neville, 

You  would  hear  of  us  from  Nottingham,  where 

we  met    the    kindest   and    warmest  reception ;  —  that 

after   departing  from   your    mother's  house   we    broke 

down  in  the  streets  you  probably  would  not   hear,  for 


1815.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  7 

we  went  to  the  inn  while  our  luggage  was  shifted  to 
another  chaise,  and  no  hurt  was  done.  On  the  Tuesday 
nicrht  we  reached  Wordsworth's  about  seven  o'clock ; 
it  would  have  been  possible  to  have  got  home  by  ten, 
but  to  have  come  in  at  night  when  the  children  were 
asleep,  would  have  been  a  cruel  disappointment  to 
them  and  to  us  !  A  return  of  this  kind  is  a  sort  of 
triumph  for  which  daylight  is  required,  and  sunshine 
also,  if  it  could  be  had  upon  demand.  So  we  slept  at 
Rydal,  and  the  next  morning  made  our  appearance.  I 
need  not  say  that  it  was  a  happy  house  that  day.  God 
be  thanked  we  found  them  all  in  health,  and  Edith  had 
improved  in  health  every  day  after  she  left  London. 

My  table  was  covered  with  letters ;  and  though  I 
fully  intended  to  have  told  you  of  our  safe  arrival  by 
the  first  post,  1  had  not  fulfilled  my  intention  when 
the  post  hour  came. 

You  loaded  us  with  kindness  in  London,  and  added 
largely  to  the  treasures  which  we  brought  home  for  the 
children,  —  treasures  they  may  be  called  ;  for  things  of 
infinitely  greater  value  would  give  them  less  delight  in 
riper  years.  I  shall  feel  myself  your  debtor  till  you 
have  brought  your  sisters  here  ;  or  rather  let  me  say, 
you  owe  us  this  gratification ;  and  if  your  excellent 
mother  would  be  of  the  party,  our  gratification  would 
be  the  greater. 

James  was  looking  well.  I  wish  I  could  assist  him 
in  his  search  for  a  curacy. 

It  will  be  some  days  before  I  can,  as  it  were,  find  my 
way,  and  resume  the  broken  thread  of  old  employments. 
At  this  moment  I  am  up  to  the  elbows  in  letters,  these 
I  hasten  to  clear  off,  in  the  hope  of  this  night  begin- 
ning my  poem.  God  bless  you.  Remember  me  to 
the  Conders,  and  believe  me,  my  dear  Neville, 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 

B    4 


8  LETTERS   OF  1815. 

P.  S.  All  liere,  the  old  and  the  young,  unite  in  the 
kindest  remembrances.  Herbert  has  gone  on  faithfully 
both  with  his  Greek  and  German  during  my  absence, 
so  as  to  have  lost  nothing.  It  is  not  possible  that 
any  child  could  be  more  entirely  after  his  father's  own 
heartr 


To  Captain  Southey,  M.N.,  St.  Helen's. 

Keswick,  Dec.  20.  1815. 

My  dear  Tom, 

I  want  your  help  about  the  beginning  of  "Oliver 
Newman."  It  must  open  with  a  funeral  at  sea.  Do  you 
put  shot  in  the  coffin  (when  there  is  one),  or  fasten  the 
weights  in  any  other  manner  ?  And  in  what  manner, 
when  the  ceremony  was  to  be  performed  with  some  re- 
spect, would  you  hoist  it  over?  and  from  what  part  of 
the  ship  ?     Give  me  all  the  technicals. 

My  plan  is  pretty  well  made  out,  and  I  believe  my 
mind  is  made  up  upon  the  choice  of  metre,  which  is 
always  a  perplexing  choice.  It  will  be  that  of  ^'Tha-^ 
laba."  Blank  verse  might  lead  me  into  repetitions, 
and  rhyme  will  not  do  for  a  poem  much  of  which  must 
be  essentially  dramatic. 

Longman  expects  that  the  quarto  "  Roderick "  will 
be  gone  before  a  small  edition  can  be  ready;  it  is  there- 
fore in  the  press  again.  This  was  to  be  looked  for;  but 
it  will  not  have,  and  cannot  have,  a  great  sale.  The 
passion  for  novelty  is  soon  satisfied,  and  the  poem  is  of 
far  too  high  a  cliaracter  to  become  popular,  till  time  has 
made  it  so.  It  is  like  an  acorn  upon  Latrigg  now.  The 
thistles  and  the  fern  will  shoot  up  faster,  and  put  it  out 
of  sight  for  a  season,  but  the  oak  will  strike  root  and 
grow. 


1815.  ROBERT    SOUTnEY.  9 

Will  you  be  glad  or  sorry  to  hear  that  I  must  write 
an  ode?  I  verily  believed  that  the  performance  had 
been  dropped  last  year,  and  thought  it  was  an  act  of 
over-caution  when  I  wrote  last  week  to  ask  Croker 
whether  or  not  it  was  so.  He  told  me  last  night  that 
though  the  custom  ought  to  be  abolished,  it  is  not  yet, 
and  therefore  I  must  write  one  :  and  he  holds  out  a 
vague  sort  of  prospect  of  its  abolition,  upon  which  very 
little  dependence  can  be  placed.  You  may  be  sure  I 
care  very  little  about  this.  An  immediate  and  public 
abolition  of  so  idle  a  custom  would  reflect  credit  upon 
the  Prince,  but  as  for  me,  it  may  very  possibly  be  more 
to  my  credit  that  it  should  continue  ;  for  subjects  can 
never  be  wanting  to  a  man  who  looks  at  public  events 
as  I  do,  in  their  causes  and  consequences.  So  instead 
of  pesting  the  ode  (that  French  word  is  better  than 
either  our  synonyme  in  c  or  in  d),  I  set  about  it,  formed 
the  plan  immediately,  and  have  to-day  written  thirty- 
seven  lines  ;  which,  considering  I  had  a  liead-ache  in  the 
morning,  and  took  a  humming  dose  of  magnesia  at  two 
o'clock  to  get  rid  of  it,  is  pretty  well 

We  had  yesterday  the  most  remarkable  storm  that 
Mrs.  Wilson  or  any  person  in  Keswick  can  remember. 
The  wind  was  nearly  due  south,  and  it  took  up  the 
water  of  the  lake,  literally  like  dust :  we  could  see  it 
beginning  to  rise  far  up  under  Brandelow,  white  as 
smoke  or  as  a  morning  mist,  gathering  and  growing  all 
the  way  to  the  bottom  of  the  lake,  and  there  dispersed 
as  far  as  the  tempest  could  carry  it.  Tlie  report  fi'om 
the  town  was  that  "  slates  were  flying  about  there  like 
crows";  and  in  fact  the  long  sort  of  pent-house  above 
the  Queen's  Head  is  nearly  unroofed.  It  still  blows  a 
heavy  gale. 

The  *'  West  Indies  "  you  cannot  complete  without 
going  to  London,  and  working  at  the  public  libraries 
there,  and  this  it  will  be  worth  while  to  do  when  you 


10  LETTERS   OF  1815. 

have  done  all  that  can  be  done  from  the  materials  within 
your  reach.  We  must  overhaul  them  when  I  come  to 
you. 

Dec.  22)id.  —  My  odeous  job  was  finished  yesterday, 
thirteen  stanzas  in  the  rhymeless  measure  of  the  con- 
gratulatory odes  which  Milton,  after  the  Greeks,  calls 
Apolelymenon, — a  good  hard  word  for  loose.  I  want  a 
name  for  the  ode  sadly  ;  but  to  call  it  merely  from  the 
metre,  Carmen  Apolelymenon,  would  be  such  "  A  word 
upon  a  title-page  "  as  might  well  make  the  reader  bless 
himself.  So  I  suppose  it  must  simply  be  called  an 
ode.  I  dismiss  the  American  War  by  a  wish  that  it 
may  soon  be  at  an  end  ;  and,  with  a  reference  to  the 
memory  of  Washington,  then  turn  to  what  are  the 
labours  which  befit  this  country  in  peace,  launching  out 
upon  the  two  great  subjects  of  general  education  and 
colonisation.  I  will  get  it  franked  to  you  if  I  can  .... 
Love  to  Sarah.     God  bless  you. 

Iv.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Dec.  25.  1815. 
My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  have  been  doggedly  at  work,  and  will  torment 
my  unwilling  Minerva  no  longer.  Here  are  three 
stanzas  which  are  good  enough  for  the  fiddlers,  and  by 
the  time  I  shall  have  finished  my  poem,  I  may  either 
be  able  to  complete  this,  or  substitute  something  better 
in  its  place.  The  "  Pilgrimage  "  goes  on  to  my  liking. 
I  am  at  Brussels  now,  and  another  evening  will  bring 
me  to  the  Field  of  Battle;  thus  far,  all  is  well,  and 
could  not  be  otherwise  :  it  remains  to  be  seen  how  I 


1816.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  11 

shall  succeed  when  description  is  to  be  exchanged  for 
a  moral  and  severe  strain.  As  for  making  a  poem  iq^on 
the  battle,  as  you  advise,  it  would  be  just  as  possible 
to  make  a  plum-pudding  of  it,  for  battles  are  as  unfit 
for  poetry  as  they  are  for  puddings ;  and  if  you  can 
find  a  more  dissimilar  simile,  you  may  substitute  it  as 
more  to  the  purpose. 

I  shall  put  my  journal  in  such  order  as  to  make  a 
volume  for  posthumous  publication,  by  which  time  it 
will  have  greatly  increased  in  value  ;  that  is  to  say,  it 
will  be  worth  much  more  as  a  post-obit  than  as  a  bill 
at  sight.  My  recollections  help  me  now  and  then  to 
something  which  had  been  forgotten  in  its  place  ;  and 
I  hear  others  from  the  two  Ediths,  in  the  course  of 
the  many  conversations  upon  our  journey,  which  had 
escaped  my  observation,  or  not  occurred  to  it.  Besides 
this,  I  am  reading  about  the  countries  which  I  saw, 
and  am  become  so  curious  about  them,  that  my  "  Col- 
lectanea Belgica  "  will  amount  to  something  considerable 
by  and  by,  both  in  extent  and  value.  I  meant  to  have 
given  you  your  letters  in  London,  and  behold  they 
remained  in  my  trunk ;  but  I  am  not  sorry  for  tliis. 

li.     S. 

P.  S.    A  merry  Christmas  to  you. 


To  John  Rickman,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jan.  12.  1816. 

My  dear  Rickman, 

It  is  Barrow  who  so  perversely  persists  in  dis- 
crediting cannibalism,  for  no  better  reason  than  that  lie 
thinks  his  own   preconceived  opinion   of  more  weight 


12  LETTERS   OF  1816 

than  the  testimony  of  anybody  else  :  this  is  strange 
and  provoking  in  a  man  of  so  much  knowledge  and  so 
much  ability.  It  is  curious,  too,  for  he  had  expressed 
this  disbelief  before  in  the  same  channel,  and,  after  the 
publication  of  my  first  volume,  seemed  to  retract  it. 
Murray  has  a  manuscript  in  his  hands  concerning  the 
Tongataboo  Islands,  which  contains  some  pleasant  stories 
upon  this  subject,  and  upon  savage  life  in  general.  I 
have  advised  him  by  all  means  to  publish  it.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  curious  books  of  its  kind,  drawn  up  from 
the  account  of  a  certain  Mr.  Mariner,  who  was  spared 
from  the  massacre  of  a  ship's  crew,  being  a  lad,  and  had 
lived  among  them  several  years.  Wynn  sent  me  once 
an  extract  from  an  unprinted  Welsh  Chronicle  written 
in  Latin  :  speaking  of  an  invasion  from  Ireland,  it  said 
that  the  leader  was  killed,  and  being  a  very  fat  man, 
one  of  the  Welsh  chieftains  had  him  for  his  share,  and 
made  bacon  of  him  !  I  think  the  Latin  words  are,  "  i7i 
carnem  suillam  condidit."  Now  whether  for  rashers,  or 
for  lard,  as  unguents,  the  French  surgeon  in  Brazil  col- 
lected human  fat  from  the  Tupinambas  houcans*  I  know 
not,  but  incline  to  believe  in  the  rashers.  It  is  a  pity 
that  Barrow  is  not  a  Welshman,  for  the  pleasure  which 
he  would  derive  from  this  story. 

God  bless  you. 

Robert  Southey. 


*  "  Four  forked  stakes  were  driven  into  the  ground,  sticks  were 
laid  across,  and  on  this  they  rather  dried  than  broiled  the  flesh. 
This  wooden  frame  was  called  the  houcan  ;  food  thus  smoked  and 
dried  was  said  to  be  buccaneered ;  and  hence  the  origin  of  the  name 
applied  to  that  extraordinary  race  of  freebooters  who  were  so  long 
the  scourge  of  the  Spaniards  in  South  Amei'ica." — History  of 
Brazil,  vol.  i.  p.  207. 


U16.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  13 

To  C.  W.  W.  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Feb.  21.  1816. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Since  you  heard  from  me  last,  my  "  Pilgrimage  " 
has  never  been  off  my  desk,  and  I  have  not  reached  the 
end  of  it, — such  a  snail's  pace  have  I  travelled.  With 
as  boyish  a  heart  as  ever,  I  begin  to  have  a  grey  head, 
and  many  symptoms  that  the  noonday  of  life  is  gone  by. 
In  the  year  1798  I  once  wrote  1200  lines  in  a  week. 
"  Gualberto"  made  part  of  them  ;  the  greater  number  of 
the  rest  were  in  "  Madoc."  This  I  could  not  do  now  ; 
and  an  increased  fastidiousness,  or  sense  of  imperfection, 
will  not  account  for  all,  or  even  half,  the  differences ;  the 
inclination  for  the  effort  is  wanting,  which  is  a  strong 
indication  that  the  power  no  longer  exists. 

I  took  the  story  of  "  Bless  thy  eyes"  *  from  Bowdler's 
book,  with  a  strong  suspicion,  I  confess,  that  the  word 
*'  Bless  "  was  put  evangelice  for  a  much  more  soldierlike 
expression ;  but  I  had  no  suspicion  that  eyes  had  been 
substituted  for  noses,  or  I  should  certainly  have  restored 
the  true  reading.  In  consequence  of  what  was  said  of 
the  Convention  of  Cintra  in  the  former  number  (where 
my  sentiments  were  suffered  to  stand),  Sir  Hew  Dal- 
rymple  has  sent  me  a  long  vindication  through  Murray, 
I  cannot  reply  to  him  as  I  sliould  wish  to  do  for  his 
courtesy,  and  must  therefore  take  advantage  of  his 
letters  having  come  to  me  as  an  anonymous  person,  not 
to  reply  to  it  at  all.  He  is  very  fearful  of  what  I  shall 
say  in  my  history,  and  from  this  fear-it  is  impossible  to 
relieve  him.  This  is  an  evil  inseparable  from  the  task 
of  writing  contemporary  history ;  there  are  occasions 
on  which,  be  as  cautious  as  you  may,  you  must  either 

*  I  think  the  expression  was,  "  Bless  thy  crooked  nose." — C.W.W. 


14  LETTERS   OF  181C. 

sacrifice  truti),  or  wound  the  feelings  of  others.  My 
Spanish  honours  bring  me  into  a  curious  dilemma  :  as 
a  member  of  their  two  Academies,  I  am  expected  to 
send  copies  of  whatever  I  may  publish  to  each  ;  and 
to  do  this  with  a  history  which  will  neither  mince  the 
matter  respecting  the  Holy  Office  nor  Ferdinand 
would  be  a  direct  insult.  As  for  Ferdinand  and  the 
Liberales,  there  is  as  much  to  be  said  in  justification  of 
one  as  of  the  other :  their  constitution  provided  for 
quarrelling  with  the  puppet  King  at  its  head,  and  would 
soon  have  ended  by  getting  rid  of  him.  It  is  not  much 
to  be  wondered  at  if  he,  who  has  just  sense  enough 
to  understand  this  thoroughly,  and  is,  moreover,  so 
thorough  a  Catholic  as  to  embroider  petticoats*  for  the 
Virgin,  should  have  very  little  mercy  upon  men  who 
really  are  thorough  Jacobinical  Atheists,  and  who  de- 
clare that  they  would  show  no  mercy  if  the  power  were 
in  their  hands.  This  is  a  matter  which  I  can  judge 
with  entire  impartiality ;  for  certainly,  had  I  been  born 
a  Spaniard,  and  bred  under  such  a  Government  and 
such  a  Church,  the  first  wish  of  my  heart  would  have 
been  to  destroy  both.  In  short,  it  is  as  fair  a  war  be- 
tween them,  as  between  shark  and  sailor.  It  required 
all  Brougham's  effrontery  to  take  up  this  question. 
While  these  men  were  acting  against  France,  he  never 
spoke  of  them  but  with  contempt. 

Dr.  Aikin  announces  "  George  III.,"  and  I  am  to 
review  his  work — an  offer  readily  accepted  on  my  part  : 
because  what  I  shall  then  write  will  serve  as  the  outline 
of  my  own  intended  book.  In  this  forthcoming  number 
I  have  a  short  paper  upon  a  French  account  of  Mas- 
sena's  campaign  in  Portugal ;   and  another  upon  Alfieri, 

*  See  2  Kings,  xxiii.  7.     So  like  is  the  superstition  of  one  age 
to  another ! 

Tas  Ka\\idi(ppoi'  'A0a- 

rai'ar  eV  KpoK((fi  ■iT(ir\(f>  K.  t.  A. — EuR.  JJeC,  V.  464. 


1816.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  15 

of  little  or  no  value.     For  the  next  I  must  exert  myself 
as  my  ways  and  means  will  require. 

We  have  had  an  avalanche.  I  do  not  know  whether 
you  saw  Applethwaite  when  you  were  here,  —  a  gill 
under  Skiddaw.  An  immense  portion  of  snow  came 
rolling  down,  and  brought  with  it  a  proportionate  quan- 
tity of  wreck  from  the  mountain,  so  as  to  bury  the 
stream  for  some  hundred  yards,  and  the  water  now 
works  its  way  under  the  mingled  mass,  or  rather  under 
an  arch  of  snow  which  is  covered  with  wreck.  This 
arch  has  fallen  in  in  many  places,  and  the  whole  scene 
is  highly  curious.  You  will  receive  my  "  Pilgrimage  " 
in  the  course  of  a  month  :  I  end  it  with  a  vision,  which 
enables  me  to  speak  of  the  political  aspects,  and  of  the 
prospects  of  society,  as  I  would  wish  to  do.  How  I 
like  it  myself,  I  shall  better  be  able  to  say  when  it  is 
completed  :  the  barometer  of  an  author's  own  feelings 
is  liable  to  many  variations.  Bedford  will  tell  you  of 
the  prints,  which  will  give  the  book  a  certain  and  per- 
manent interest.  I  have  made  proper  mention  of  Picton, 
who,  I  think,  may  take  place  of  Sir  Henry  Morgan,  as 
the  Worthy  of  Wales.     God  bless  you. 

Yours  very  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


Messrs,  Longman  and  Co. 

Keswick,  March  8.  1816. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  have  two  matters  of  business  to  propose  for 
your  consideration.  I  believe  I  mentioned  to  you,  in 
town,  the  death  of  a  young  Cantabrigian,  in  whom  I 
had  taken  much  interest.     His  papers  (poems)  are  in 


16  LETTERS   OF  1816. 

my  hands,  and,  in  my  judgment,  a  selection  from  them 
will  do  honour  to  his  memory.  They  will  not  have  the 
religious  interest  of  Kirke  White's  **  Remains,"  neither 
do  they  display  so  much  correctness ;  but  certainly 
there  is  as  much  power  and  as  much  promise.  In  the 
way  of  memoir,  I  do  not  know  that  there  will  be  much 
to  say.  He  was  the  eldest  of  a  very  large  family ;  the 
father  a  half-pay  officer,  in  very  straitened  circum- 
stances. Of  course,  the  publication  is  with  his  appro- 
bation ;  but  it  remains  to  be  seen  what  circumstances 
of  his  son's  short  life  he  would  choose  to  have  stated. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  there  will  be  enough  of  general 
matter  bearing  upon  the  particular  subject  to  make  an 
introduction.  He  was  highly  respected  in  his  college, 
and  known  enough  at  Cambridge  to  have  excited  some 
interest  there  ;  with  this,  and  with  my  name,  there  can, 
I  think,  be  little  risk  in  venturing  one  volume,  the  size 
of  K.  White's ;  the  title,  "  The  Remains  of  James 
Dusautoy,  late  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge  ;  with 
an  Introduction,  by  R.  S.,"  &c.  My  own  judgment  of 
these  papers  is  sanctioned  by  Wordsworth.  Should  you 
be  willing  to  undertake  the  publication,  upon  our  usual 
terms,  I  should  wish  you  to  communicate  your  assent 
to  Captain  James  Dusautoy,  Totness,  Devonshire,  and 
account  with  him  for  the  eventual  profits.  I  may  hint  to 
you,  that  it  is  desirable  the  letter  should  be  franked. 

The  second  point  of  business  relates  to  a  volume  of 
"  Travels  in  Brazil,"  by  Henry  Koster,  a  friend  of  mine 
who  resided  six  years  in  that  country,  and  went  to  it 
with  the  advantage  of  speaking  Portuguese  as  his  own 
tongue,  being  an  English-Lisboner  by  birth.  The  line 
of  his  travels  was  from  Pernambuco  to  Ceara,  besides 
occasional  excursions,  and  a  voyage  to  Maranham.  The 
manner  of  his  narration  is  plain  and  unaffected  ;  and 
the  picture  which  it  gives  of  the  state  of  society  in  that 
country  is  highly  curious.  In  quantity,  I  should  suppose 


1816.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  17 

it  would  make  such  a  volume  as  Mawe's ;  and  he  has 
some  four  or  five  drawings  of  costumes,  which  would 
make  good  coloured  prints.  In  the  second  sheet  of 
the  "  Pilgrimage"  there  are  three  stanzas*  relating  to 
Kostcr  and  his  travels.  I  did  not  know  that  he  had  any 
intention  of  publishing  them  when  those  lines  were 
written  ;  but  the  quotation  might  have  its  use  in  an- 
nouncing the  book,  and  I  should,  of  course,  notice  it 
as  soon  as  it  appeared,  in  the  "  Quarterly." 

Pople  is  printing  the  "  Pilgrimage"  much  to  my 
satisfaction.  The  poem  extends  considerably  beyond 
my  estimate,  but  will  not  be  the  worse  for  its  length. 

Believe  me,  yours  very  truly, 

Robert  Southey. 

*  I  transcribe  the  stanzas,  as  the  reader  may  not  have  the 
"  Pilgrimage  "  at  hand  :  — 

"  A  third,  who  from  the  Land  of  Lakes  with  me 

Went  out  upon  this  pleasant  pilgrimage, 
Had  sojourn'd  long  beyond  the  Atlantic  Sea  ; 

Adventurous  was  his  spirit,  as  his  age ; 
For  he  in  far  Brazil,  through  wood  and  waste, 
Had  travell'd  many  a  day,  and  there  his  heart  was  placed, 

"  Wild  region  !  .  .  .  happy  if  at  night  he  found 
The  shelter  of  some  rude  Tapuya's  shed  ; 
Else  would  he  take  his  lodgment  on  the  ground. 

Or  from  the  tree  suspend  his  hardy  bed  ; 
And  sometimes  starting  at  the  jaguar's  cries, 
See  through  the  murky  night  the  prowler's  eyes. 

"  And  sometimes  over  thirsty  deserts  drear. 

And  sometimes  over  flooded  plains  he  went ; 
A  joy  it  was  his  fire-side  tales  to  hear, 

And  he  a  comrade  to  my  heart's  content ; 
For  he  of  what  I  most  desired  could  tell, 
And  loved  the  Portugals  because  he  knew  them  well." 

Part  I.  i.  38. 


VOL.  III. 


18  LETTERS   OF  1816. 

To  John  Richman,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jrarch  12. 1816. 

My  dear  Rickman, 

I  have  been  reading  Turner's  "  Tibet,"  having 
felt  my  intellect  hungry  for  it  after  what  you  said  in 
its  praise.  A  good  book,  a  strange  country,  and  a 
stranger  people.  I  do  not  find  any  mention  of  the 
proportion  between  the  sexes,  and  this  silence  may  seem 
to  infer  that  there  is  no  visible  disproportion;  but  on 
the  other  hand,  women  being  everywhere  less  abroad 
than  men,  it  may  exist,  without  being  obvious  to  a 
traveller.  I  can  account  for  the  system  of  Polyandry  *, 
as  he  calls  it,  only  in  one  way  ;  that  among  the  first 
settlers  there  was,  from  whatever  cause,  a  paucity  of 
women,  and  that  it  originated  in  necessity.  As,  for 
instance,  it  might  have  done  at  early  Rome,  if  there 
had  been  no  Sabines  within  reach.  Csesar  found  a 
similar  system  here, —  this  island  being  peopled  from 
the  continent.  There  will  be  always  a  great  majority 
of  men  among  emigrants  and  colonists ;  but  if  the 
system  thus  began  in  an  actual  disproportion,  that  dis- 
proportion (in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature)  would 
continue  the  same,  unless  a  supply  were  introduced 
from  without:  to  restore  the  natural  equilibrium  women 
must  be  imported,  not  bred.  In  Tibet  there  seems  to 
be  no  importation. 

Their  Lama,  like  Apis,  who  is  always  the  same,  has 
this  advantage  over  other  rulers,  —  rather,  there  is  this 
advantage  in  the  fraud,  that  it  gives  them  choice  of  the 
subject;  and  that  as  an  Apis  was  sure  to  be  a  fine  ox, 

*  "  In  PInkerton's  abominable  collection  of  voyages  is  a  compi- 
lation about  Tibet,  copied  from  Astley's  collection,  and  here  it  is 
stated  that  the  people  say  their  custom  of  polyandry  is  necessary 
because  of  the  scarcity  of  women." —  J.  R. 


1816.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  19 

SO  will  the  Lama  be  chosen  among  the  finest  specimens 
of  the  human  infant.  It  is  a  book  that  gives  one  much 
matter  for  speculation. 

Have  you  read  Elphinston's  ^'Caubul"?  The  Affghans 
are  a  fine  people :  of  all  the  Easterlings,  the  Persians 
are  the  worst. 

Robert  Southey. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  March  15.  1816. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  shall  attend  to  your  remarks  always,  and  profit 
by  them  where  I  can.  As  for  party,  you  need  not  fear 
that.  I  have  even  done  some  little  injustice  to  some  of 
my  own  political  apprehensions  in  putting  them  into 
the  old  man's  mouth.  But  you  will  see  that  all  this  is 
subordinate  to  the  philosophical  views  developed  at  the 
conclusion. 

It  will,  perhaps,  be  convenient  to  prefix  something 
like  an  analysis  of  this  part  in  the  way  of  argument  to 
the  poem.  The  tower  upon  the  sand*  is  not  emblematic 
of  ambition,  but  of  philosophy  built  upon  false  prin- 
ciples. The  principles  of  the  revolutionary  leaders  are 
broadly  stated  in  this  part,  as  avowed  by  most  of  them, 
and  consistently  acted  upon  by  Bonaparte ;  and  in  this 
canto  they  are  contrasted  with  the  principles  of  duty. 
In  the  next  canto  these  arguments  are  advanced,  which 
would  prove  that  no  good  has  resulted  from  the  con- 
test, and  that  our  victory  has  left  the  world  worse  than 
it  found  it :  and  with  these  arguments  as  relating  to 

*       "  Its  frail  foundations  upon  sand  were  placed,"  &c. 

Part  II.  "  The  Tower,"  §  9 

02 


20  LETTERS   OF  1816. 

Italy  and  Spain,  and  the  domestic  dangers,  the  old 
gentleman  takes  his  departure,  leaving  me  more  im- 
pressed by  them  than  it  would  have  been  agreeable  to 
acknowledge  to  one  who,  if  he  had  been  closely  exa- 
mined, might  have  been  found  guilty  of  a  cloven  foot 
and  a  tail.  In  the  third  canto,  which  is  far  more 
visionary,  the  purport  is,  that  religion  must  be  the 
foundation  of  philosophy,  which  can  never  judge  rightly 
of  human  affairs  unless  the  nature  and  destination  of 
man  be  felt  and  understood.  The  two  points  upon 
which  I  rest  are,  that  imperfection  or  disease  is  our 
nature,  which  is  called  original  sin  (which  I  am  very 
far  from  understanding  in  a  Calvinistic  sense),  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  Upon  these  data,  whatever 
relates  to  individual  man  becomes  clear  and  satisfactory; 
and  in  the  last  canto  this  is  applied  :  I  then  look  at  the 
general  course  of  history,  consider  the  question  of  na- 
tional degeneracy,  and  show  that  the  degradation  of 
Europe,  that  is,  of  the  only  progressive  part  of  the 
world,  would  have  resulted  from  Bonaparte's  success. 
Thence  the  immeasurable  importance  of  this  victory.  All 
this  ought  to  be  perspicuous,  if  I  have  explained  myself 
properly.  I  then  proceed  to  show  what  England  may 
be,  taking  the  fair  side ;  and  this  is  a  series  of  shifting 
pictures  looking  on  for  centuries,  far  and  wide  ;  and 
taking  care  to  say  that  it  depends  upon  herself  whether 
they  be  realised  or  not.  Then  I  shall  wake,  and  con- 
clude with  a  L'Envoy  of  rejoicing,  in  which  the  bonfire 
upon  old  Skiddaw  is  not  to  be  forgotten.  I  have  got 
on  thirty-two  stanzas  with  the  last  canto,  and  heartily 
glad  shall  I  be  to  see  the  end. 

The  plan  is  now  before  you ;  it  is  precisely  the 
outline  which  I  formed  when  my  determination  of 
writing  upon  the  subject  was  first  made ;  in  the  execu- 
tion it  has  extended  farther  than  I  expected,  and  after 
all,  may  very  probably  not  be  worth  the  time  which  it 


1816.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  21 

has  cost.  The  subject  certainly  would  never  have  oc- 
curred to  me  as  one  of  choice.  However,  1  am  not  out 
of  humour  with  it  upon  the  whole,  and  shall  be  in 
great  glee  when  the  pictures  arrive. 

What  has  GifFord  done  with  my  article  about  the 
Frenchman  with  half  a  dozen  initials  ?  He  does  not 
mention  it  in  his  note :  I  take  it  for  granted  that  it 
stands  over  for  the  next  number,  and  as  he  has  chosen 
that  "Algiers"  shall  stand  over  too,  I  shall  do  less  for 
the  number  in  consequence.  If  they  go  wrong  about 
Lord  Elgin,  it  is  not  my  fault :  I  suspect  a  design  of 
washing  the  blackamoor  white,  and  cautioned  them 
against  it. 

Cyril  Jackson's  good  word  is  worth  something  if  it 
gets  abroad.  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  Cyril  Jackson, 
—  to  no  man  more.  He  refused  to  admit  me  at  Christ 
Church,  as  doubtless  you  remember,  and  this  was  the 
most  fortunate  event  in  my  life.  Grosvenor,  there 
were  more  wigs  than  brains  laid  together  about  that 
poor  number  of  the  "  Flagellant !  " 

God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


To  John  May,  Esq. 

April  17.  1816. 

My  dear  Friend, 

If  you  have  seen  Harry  of  late,  you  will  antici- 
pate the  intelligence  which  a  black  seal  announces.  It 
has  pleased  God  to  visit  me  with  the  severest  of  all 
afflictions,  by  removing  my  son, —  my  only  son,  —  who 
was  the  very  flower  and  crown  of  all  my  happiness  ;  for 
never  was  man  blest  with  a  child  more  entirely  after  his 

c  3 


22  LETTEltS   OF  1816. 

own  heart's  desire.     "  The  Lord  hath  given,  the  Lord 
hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

I  am  very  thankful  for  having  had  him  during  ten 
years.  During  those  years  he  has  been  the  joy  of  my 
life  ;  and  my  deepest  pleasure  hereafter  will  be  in  the 
sure  and  certain  hope  that  this  separation  is  only  for  a 
time.  I  feel,  also,  that  the  removal  is  for  his  good ; 
that  he  was  perfectly  fit  for  a  better  scene  of  existence  : 
he  had  learnt  all  of  good  that  this  world  could  teach 
him,  —  all  kind  affections,  all  good  feelings,  all  generous 
hopes ;  and  he  is  gone  before  the  world  has  sullied 
his  pure  spirits,  without  a  spot  or  stain,  never  having 
known  a  thought  of  evil,  never  having  felt  a  single 
affliction.  His  life  has  been  past  in  love,  and  he  has 
fallen  asleep  to  wake  in  immortality. 

In  this  frame  of  mind,  you  will  believe  that  I  am  as 
composed  and  as  resigned  as  becomes  a  man  and  a 
Christian ;  but  I  am  fully  aware  that  in  this  place  I 
shall  never  be  able  to  overcome  the  I'ecollections  which 
must  everywhere  haunt  me.  My  morning  walks,  my 
summer  excursions  on  the  lake,  &c.  &c.,  —  all  are  asso- 
ciated with  him,  who  was  my  constant  companion.  I  will 
therefore,  if  it  be  possible,  remove  from  Cumberland. 
My  lease  expires  in  twelve  months  from  this  time.  I 
wish  to  be  near  London,  and,  if  it  may  be,  near  you. 
Harry  will  talk  to  you  about  this. 

Edith  has  supported  herself  through  this  long  and 
severe  trial  with  exemplary  fortitude.  I  trust  God  will 
support  her  now.  For  myself,  it  is  a  relief  to  know 
that  the  worst  is  over.  For  full  five  weeks  I  have 
never  known  an  hour's  peace  of  mind,  perpetually 
dreading  this  ;  and  even  when  I  gave  way  to  the  hopes 
with  which  others  flattered  me,  it  was  hoping  against 
belief.  His  whole  demeanour  was,  like  his  whole  life, 
almost  beyond  belief  for  calmness,  collectedness,  and 
obedience. 


1816.  ROBERT    SOUTHET.  23 

Pray  for  us,  my  dear  friend,  that  we  may  be  sup- 
ported in  our  affliction.  My  heart  is  strong,  and  1  can 
answer  for  controlling  all  outward  excess  of  grief;  but 
I  pray  that  my  health  may  not  fail  me.  I  have  many 
ties  to  life,  and  am  duly  mindful  of  them  at  this  hour. 
God  bless  you.     Yours  most  affectionately, 

Robert  Soutiiey. 


The  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  8fc. 

Keswick,  April  22.  1816. 

I  OUGHT  sooner  to  have  written  to  you ;  but  ill 
news  always  finds  its  way,  and  I  was  willing  to  shrink 
from  another  repetition  of  the  same  tale.  The  affliction 
which  has  befallen  me  is  heavier  than  any  person  can 
conceive,  who  had  not  seen  the  habits  of  my  domestic 
life ;  how  closely  they  were  connected  with  the  studies 
and  the  amusement  of  the  child  whom  I  have  lost,  and 
how  he  became  as  naturally  my  companion  as  I  became 
his  playmate.  There  is  but  one  source  of  consolation  ; 
but  that  source  is  all-sufficient,  and  I  have  drank  of  it 
largely.  My  happiness  can  never  again  be  what  it  has 
been,  yet  will  the  difference  be  rather  in  kind  than  in 
degree  ;  there  will  be  less  of  earth  about  it,  less  that  is 
insecure  and  perishable.  He  was  the  main  object  of  my 
hopes  ;  those  hopes  have  now  no  fears  to  alloy  them 
(for  this  calamity  was  always  before  my  eyes),  and  at 
this  moment  with  a  feeling  of  perfect  resignation  at  his 
removal,  I  thank  God  for  having,  during  so  many  years, 
blest  me  with  a  son  who  was,  in  every  quality  of  dispo- 
sition and  intellect,  entirely  after  my  own  heart.  No 
mother  could  possibly  have  behaved  with  more  admir- 

c  4 


24  LETTERS   OF  1816. 

able  fortitude  than  Edith  did  during  the  whole  severe 
trial.  We  are  both  as  you  would  wish  to  see  us  under 
such  a  dispensation,  —  resigned  to  the  call  of  God,  and 
grateful  for  the  blessings  which  we  still  possess  ;  bless- 
ings such  as  fall  to  the  lot  of  few. 

I  am  very  much  reduced  in  body  and  in  strength  ; 
but  I  am  taking  all  care  of  myself,  and  a  short  time  will 
recruit  me.  I  employ  myself  incessantly.  I  find  not 
only  relief  in  mental  exertion,  but  even  pleasure. 

God  grant  that  you  may  never  be  visited  with  a 
sorrow  of  this  kind.  My  love  to  my  aunt  and  the 
children.  I  cannot  love  Edward  more  than  I  already 
loved  him  ;  but,  as  far  as  is  possible,  he  will  be  to  me 
hereafter  in  the  place  of  my  son.      God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Herbert  Southey.* 

Herbert  !  having  some  spare  time, 
I  will  write  to  you  in  rhyme  ; 
For,  though  you  perhaps  suppose 
That  I  should  write  to  you  in  prose, 
Rhyming  Son,  methinks,  should  rather 
Hear  in  rhymes  from  rhyming  Father. 

*  In  the  "  Life  and  Correspondence,"  vol.  iv.  p.  16.,  Southey  says 
in  a  letter  to  G.  C  Bedford,  "  In  his  desk  there  are  the  few  letters 
which  I  had  written  to  him  in  the  joy  of  my  heart.  I  will  fold  up 
these  and  send  them  to  you,  that  they  may  be  preserved  when  I 
am  gone,  in  memory  of  him  and  of  me." 

"  These  letters,"  my  brother-in-law  observes  in  a  note,  "  have 
not  come  into  my  hands,"  nor  have  they  into  mine.  The  above 
scrap,  written  on  a  bit  of  waste  paper,  I  found  amougbt  the  MSS. 
of  the  late  Mrs.  Southey,  marked  "  vehy  rBECious." 


1816.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  25 

And  if  I  in  verse  declare 
Wliere  we've  been,  and  where  we  are, 
Such  odd  names  I  needs  must  bring  in 
As  will  prove  my  skill  in  singing  ; 
Skill,  my  son,  which,  you  may  guess, 
It  befits  me  to  possess  ;  — 
Me,  who,  living  by  the  Greta, 
Am  his  Majesty's  Poeta  ! 

At  our  outset,  as  you  saw,  son. 
We  for  driver  had  James  Lawson  ; 
Carefully  did  young  James  guide 
Chaise  and  horse  to  Ambleside. 
Loth  we  were,  the  truth  to  tell, 
To  leave  a  house  we  love  so  well ; 
Yet  we  felt  our  spirits  mend  all 
On  the  second  stage  to  Kendal : 
Thence  we  went  to  Kirkby  Lonsdale. 
(He,  son,  does  not  walk  in  bonds  well 
Who  can  make  a  name  so  ugly 
Lito  couplets  come  so  snugly  !) 

Thence  we  went  to  Ligleton 
When  our  first  day's  work  was  done. 
Horses  well  upon  their  mettle 
Carried  us  next  day  to  Settle  ; 
After  breakfast  then  we  skipt  on 
Merrily  as  far  as  Skipton ; 
Next  a  man,  whose  coat  was  motley. 
Drove  a  pleasant  stage  to  Ottley. 
Thence  a  weary  way  proceeds 
Up  a  heavy  hill  to  Leeds. 

CcBtera  desunt. 


26  LETTEKS   OF  1816. 

To  C.  W.  Williams  Wyiin,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  May  17.  1816. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  am  very  glad  you  are  satisfied  with  the  "  Pil- 
grimage;" a  work  of  such  length  can  never  be  completed 
without  many  fits  of  misgiving  in  the  author,  and  to- 
wards its  close,  when  uneasy  apprehensions  from  an- 
other cause  began  to  disquiet  me,  I  more  than  once 
wished  that  it  had  never  been  begun.  To  me  the  book 
will  ever  remain  a  sad  memento  of  the  imcertainty  of 
human  enjoyments  ;  and  yet  it  is  a  satisfaction  that  the 
poem  exists,  and  will  exist  as  long  as  my  name  shall  be 
remembered. 

Emuling*  is  not  my  coinage;  you  will  find  the  word 
in  Spenser. 

The  "  Carmen  Nuptiale  "  was  half  written  two  years 
ago,  and,  by  a  piece  of  good  luck,  which  could  not  have 
been  expected,  is  only  by  one  word  the  worse  for 
altering.  I  had  to  turn  the  Belgic  lion  into  a  Saxon 
one ;  this  male  Simorg  of  ours  most  obligingly  happen- 
ing to  have  a  lion  for  his  supporter.  Tell  nobody  this, 
and  nobody  will  perceive  how  much  difierence  the  one 
word  makes.  I  myself  think  this  far  the  best  of  my 
minor  poems.  Nor  am  I  afraid  of  being  misunderstood 
in  the  third  stanza. 

The  stanza  is  not  Spenser's  ;  he,  I  believe,  has  never 
used  it.  It  is  the  simplest  form  of  stanza,  and  of  the 
most  convenient  length.  A  longer  stanza,  when  the 
same  rhyme  recurs  more  frequently,  leads  almost  in- 
evitably to  a  diffuser  style  than  is  at  all  times  desirable. 

*  The  word  occurs  in  "  Colin  Clout's  come  home  again  : "  — 

"  Yet,  amuling  my  pipe,  he  took  in  hand 
My  pipe,  before  that  (emuled  of  many, 
And  plaid  thereon." — v.  72. 


1816.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  27 

*'  The  Lay  of  the  Laureate  "  is  a  good  English  name 
for  the  "  Carmen  Nuptiale  :"  it  is  just  such  a  poem  as 
those  which  were  originally  called  "  Lays,"  and  though 
I  have  put  more  of  Robert  Southey  into  it  than  many 
persons  may  think  proper  (and  you  perhaps  among 
others),  yet  certainly  the  subject  is  one  which  R.  S. 
would  never  have  chosen,  but  which  the  Laureate  could 
not  with  propriety  let  pass.  Moreover,  the  two  L's 
alliterate  well,  and  the  beauty  of  the  title-page  will  be 
improved,  because  the  title  renders  unnecessary  the 
introduction  of  the  author's  name. 

The  Waterloo  men  have  got  their  medals,  I  see. 
You  and  I  and  Alexander  Davison  have  contributed  to 
this.  This  is  not  the  first  time  that  I  have  been  oddly 
classed  with  Alexander  Davison.  Poor  WoodrufFe 
Smith,  of  Stockwell,  left  50/.  each  to  Duppa,  Alexander 
Davison,  Sir  John  Eames,  their  Lord  Mayor,  and  R.  S., 
as  his  four  particular  friends. 

1  am  afraid  Wilson  has  acted  from  a  very  unworthy 
feeling  of  personal  resentment  towards  Lord  Wellington 
and  his  own  Government.  Wilson  has  been  an  ill-used 
man.  If  I  were  called  upon  to  say  what  particular  act, 
above  all  others,  contributed  to  the  success  of  our  struggle 
in  the  Peninsula,  I  think  I  should  say,  Wilson's  advance 
to  Ciudad  Rodrigo  at  the  time  when  Sir  J.  Moore  was 
in  full  retreat;  for  that  movement  (beyond  all  doubt) 
prevented  the  French  from  advancing  upon  Lisbon,  and 
the  English  from  evacuating  it,  as  they  were  ready  to 
do.  I  daresay  Beresford  is  a  better  drill  sergeant  than 
Wilson,  and  Wilson  a  better  guerilla  chief  than  regular 
soldier ;  but  certainly  his  merits  were  never  acknow- 
ledged and  rewarded  as  they  might  have  been.  No 
weaker  feeling  than  that  of  bitter  resentment  could 
ever  have  made  him,  of  all  men,  take  so  strong  an 
interest  for  Marshal  Ney.  My  own  feelings  upon  this 
business  are  these :    I  would  have   seized  Ney  in  his 


28  LETTERS   OF  1816. 

flight,  and  delivered  him  to  the  executioner;  but  had 
Lavalette  come  to  me,  I  would  have  used  every  effort 
to  favour  his  escape  ;  I  would  not  have  plotted  it,  but 
when  he  was  out  of  prison,  I  could  no  more  have 
abstained  from  assisting  him  (there  being  no  paramount 
claims  of  eternal  policy  in  his  case,  as  there  were  in 
Ney's),  than  I  could  from  saving  any  human  creature 
from  death,  if  it  were  in  my  power.     But  as  for  the 

grounds  on  which  B and  H profess   to  have 

acted,  they  and  my  Lord  K ought  to  be  cut  for  the 

simples  ;  and  if  the  operation  were  extended  to  some  of 
the  opponents  of  the  Alien  Act,  the  sum  total  of  folly 
in  the  House  of  Commons  would  be  reduced. 

The  French  seem  very  lovingly  disposed  to  cut  each 
other's  throats,  in  which  meritorious  work  I  hope  they 
may  prosper  to  their  hearts'  desire.  A  Bonapartian 
La  Vendee  would  be  a  spectacle  for  men  and  angels. 
I  mean  good  angels ;  the  devils  would  be  too  busily 
engaged  in  it  to  have  any  leisure  for  looking  on. 

God  bless  you. 

li.  S. 


To  Wade  Brown,  Esq.,  Ludloiv. 

Keswick,  May  26.  1816. 

My  dear  Sir, 

You  will  easily  excuse  me  for  not  having  myself 
informed  you  of  our  loss.  It  is  the  third  which  we  have 
sustained,  but  the  sorrow  is  now  different  in  kind  as 
well  as  in  degree.  The  death  of  an  infant  seems  re- 
paired by  the  birth  of  another,  and  you  lose  in  it  more 
of  hope  than  of  actual  enjoyment ;  yet  God  knows, 
even  then  the  heart  is  wounded  in  its  tendcrest  part. 


1816.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  29 

But  in  our  present  case,  the  loss  is  irreparable.  Were 
there  the  probability  of  our  having  another  son,  I  am 
not  sure  that  I  should  desire  it;  so  infinitely  unlikely 
is  it  that  he  should  resemble  Herbert  in  those  moral  and 
intellectual  endowments  which  rendered  him  all  that  my 
heart  desired.  No  father  was  ever  blest  with  a  child 
more  entirely  such  as  he  would  have  prayed  for,  and 
therefore  it  was  that  I  always  apprehended  the  calamity 
which  has  befallen  me :  I  could  not  help  feeling  that 
when  a  creature  of  this  kind  came  into  the  world,  it 
was  not  likely  that  he  should  be  suffered  to  remain  in 
it ;  he  lived  in  it  long  enough  to  know  all  that  was 
good, — and  nothing  but  what  was  good  ;  and  he  is  re- 
moved before  a  thought  of  evil  has  ever  risen  in  his 
heart,  or  a  breath  of  impurity  ever  tainted  his  ears.  ■ 

For  ourselves,  I  hope  we  bear  the  visitation  with 
true  submission  to  the  unerring  wisdom  which  has 
appointed  it.  I  have  lost  so  many  near  and  dear  friends 
that  my  thoughts  have  been  long  and  habitually  directed 
toward  the  next  world,  as  a  point  of  hope, — as  the  place 
where  we  are  to  meet  again,  and  where  we  shall  be  se- 
parated no  more.  Meantime,  though  the  very  head 
and  flower  of  all  my  earthly  hopes  and  happiness  is  cut 
off,  I  have  abundant  blessings  left :  for  each  and  all  of 
these  I  am  truly  thankful ;  but  of  all  the  blessings 
which  God  has  given  me,  this  child,  who  is  removed,  is 
the  one  which  I  slill  prize  the  most.  Most  thankful  I 
am  that  I  should  have  been  favoured  with  such  a  son, 
and  most  happy  in  the  certain  assurance  that  this  pri- 
vation is  only  for  a  time.  But  for  this  faith  it  is 
scarcely  possible  that  we  should  have  supported  the 
blow.  The  illness  was  of  six  or  eight  weeks'  continu- 
ance ;  there  was  hope  till  the  last,  —  though  from  the 
first  in  my  own  mind  fear  predominated.  It  was  found 
after  death  to  be  an  accumulation  of  matter  in  the  peri- 
cardium.    Part  of  my  prayers  were  granted ;  long  as  the 


30  LETTERS   OF  1816. 

decline  was,  and  total  as  the  decay,  it  was  attended 
with  the  least  possible  suffering  ;  and  at  the  end  he  fell 
asleep.  One  word  more,  and  I  will  have  done  with 
this  painful  subject : —  his  whole  behaviour  was  in  this, 
as  in  all  his  life,  —  beautiful. 

I  thank  you,  my  dear  Sir,  for  your  very  friendly  letter. 
My  tears  even  now  are  not  without  some  portion  of  de- 
light —  such  is  the  power  of  religion. 

Remember  us  most  kindly  to  Mrs.  Browne  and  your 
daugliters, 

And  believe  me 

Very  truly  and  affectionately  yours, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  C.  TV.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.^  M.P. 

Keswick,  July  2,  1816. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Do  not  imagine  that  any  circumstances  would 
ever  render  me  indifferent  to  anything  which  concerned 
your  happiness.  My  state  of  mind,  as  it  regards  my 
own  loss,  is  what  it  should  be,  and  admits  of  no  repining 
thought  or  feeling :  least,  of  all  occasions,  would  any 
such  feeling  occur  upon  the  present, — ^an  event  of  which 
I  have  so  truly  wislied  to  hear. 

I  hope  to  see  you  here.  If  I  leave  home  this  year, 
it  must  be  for  a  longer  journey  than  to  Wales.  Bedford, 
I  think,  must  lose  his  mother  ere  long.  She  is  not  in 
immediate  danger,  but  she  may  be  so  at  any  moment ; 
that  she  should  recover,  is  nearly  impossible,  and  any 
day  the  disorder  may  assume  a  fatal  character.  When- 
ever this  event  happens,  if  it  be  possible  for  me  to  get 
from  home,  I  should  wish  to  go  with  Grosvenor  for  five 
or  six  weeks  to  the  Continent, — the  best  thing  for  him, 


1816.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  31 

and  which  would  be  wholesome  for  me  also.  Duvin"- 
my  last  trip  I  kept  a  minute  journal ;  and  were  I  to  go 
through  the  rest  of  the  Netherlands,  the  knowledge 
wlu'ch  I  have  acquired  from  books,  and  which  I  have  the 
means  of  obtaining  in  that  country,  would  enable  me  to 
make  a  volume  that  should  do  me  no  discredit,  and 
would  pay  the  expense  of  my  journey. 

As  to  the  mention  of  the  Catholic  Question,  the  cha- 
racter of  the  poem  rendered  it  indispensable.  The 
sovereign  of  this  country  has  no  more  imperative  duty 
than  that  of  preserving  the  institutions  of  the  country. 
That  the  Roman  Catholics  will  ever  succeed  in  buildino- 
lip  their  own  church  here,  I  do  not  believe ;  but  they 
may  go  a  great  way  in  assisting  to  pull  our  church 
down,  —  and  a  church  which  is  undermined,  which  is 
battered  in  breach,  and  which  has  the  dry  rot  to  boot, 
is  in  a  bad  way  for  durability.  That  you  will  carry  the 
question  I  take  for  granted,  —  from  the  total  want  of 
activity  in  your  opponents.  You  would  not  carry  it  if 
most  of  the  men  who  sit  upon  the  woolsacks,  were  not 
as  soft  as  the  wool  which  they  sit  on.  The  next  demand 
which  the  Catholics  make  is,  for  a  Catholic  Establish- 
ment in  Ireland;  and  upon  the  quarrel  (into  which 
every  Paddy  Rampant  will  enter  as  into  a  crusade)  you 
will  have  a  civil  war  ;  —  and  if  it  be  delayed  till  the 
Bourbons  feel  safe  upon  their  throne,  you  will  find  far 
more  danger  from  a  Bourbon  fomenting  a  Catholic  Re- 
bellion, than  ever  you  did  from  a  Directory  instigating 
a  Republican  one.  The  question  will  not,  however, 
be  easily  carried :  this  business  in  the  South  of  France 
has  opened  the  eyes  of  the  Dissenters,  and  you  may 
probably  calculate  upon  some  act  of  folly  in  the  Irish. 
GifTord  is  so  connected  with  Canning  that  the  "  Quar- 
terly "  will  probably  be  enlisted  on  that  side  ;  in  that 
case  I  shall  most  likely  publish  a  pamphlet  upon  the 
subject. 


32  LETTEKS   OF  1816. 

Though  I  cannot  come  to  you  at  present  (my  fellow 
traveller  Nash,  who  made  the  drawings  for  me,  is  just 
arrived),  at  some  future  time  I  hope  to  go  over  *'  Ma- 
doc's  "  ground,  that  I  may  improve  the  poem  by  inter- 
weaving local  descriptions.  My  race  as  a  poet  is  nearly 
run ;  if  I  finish  what  I  have  begun,  it  is  little  likely 
that  I  shall  ever  begin  anything  more.  "  Solve  sene- 
scentem  !  "  The  hours  which  I  might  be  able  to  spare 
for  such  pursuits  in  declining  life,  would  be  better  em- 
ployed in  correcting  my  former  poems  than  in  attempt- 
ing anything  more. 

I  have  reviewed  "  M.  Roche  Jaquelein  "  for  the  next 
numbers,  and  written  a  paper  upon  bettering  the  con- 
dition of  the  poor.  I  am  about  to  take  Pinckard's 
shallow  book  for  a  text,  and  write  upon  the  West  Indies. 
My  mind  is  reconciled  to  remaining  here ;  and  having 
worn  out  the  first  inclination  of  flying  from  the  spot,  in 
all  likelihood  I  shall  never  remove  from  it.  I  am  per- 
fectly at  ease  respecting  the  future  circumstances  of  my 
family  ;  were  I  to  be  removed  immediately,  there  would 
be  a  provision  for  them  ;  and  if  I  live  some  few  years, 
it  will  be  in  my  power  to  save  money.  All  things  con- 
sidered, I  have  been  singularly  fortunate,  nor  shall  I 
ever  be  unmindful  how  much  this  has  been  owing  to 
you. 

God  bless  you,  my  dear  Wynn.  Present  my  congra- 
tulations to  your  wife,  and  believe  me 

Most  affectionately  yours, 

Robert  Southey. 


1816.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  33 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Awg.  31.  181G. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  begin  to  wish  for  solitude  and  long  evenings — 
winter  it  were  needless  to  include  in  the  wish,  for  we 
have  had  it  almost  uninterruptedly  since  last  Christmas. 
I  am  weary  of  visitors,  and  want  leisure.  The  Beau- 
monts  are  here,  and  Rogers  is  here,  —  and  the  Lord 
knows  who  have  been  here,  —  and  more  of  the  Lord 
knows  whose  family  are  coming.  Here  is  Glover  in 
town  ;  and  the  younger  Westall  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Bible  Society  have  been  here,  and  the  King  of  Prussia's 
librarian  has  been  here  :  and  what  with  one  and  an- 
other, I  am  well  nigh  walked  off  my  legs,  and  talked  out 
of  my  life.  Am  I  the  better  for  all  this,  you  will  ask? 
Everybody  will  tell  you  that  I  am  in  good  spirits;  but 
my  spirits  are  not  what  they  were,  nor  will  they  ever 
again  be.     Hceret  lateri  ! 

I  have  begun  this  letter,  forgetting  that  an  unfinished 
one  has  been  lying  in  my  desk ;  so  as  I  can  frank  this, 
I  will  cut  off  the  fragment.  Gilford  is  at  his  old  work 
of  castrating  my  reviews,  against  which  I  must  resolutely 
and  decidedly  remonstrate.  He  has  likewise,  without 
ceremony  or  any  apology  whatever,  wholly  suppressed  a 
short  article  which  I  believe  you  saw,  upon  a  French- 
man's history  of  Massena's  campaign  in  Portugal,  and 
which  certainly  has  not  been  omitted. to  make  room  for 
better  matter.  It  would  be  curious  if  I  should  be  so 
disgusted  as  to  throw  up  the  ''Review"  at  a  time  when 
it  pa3's  me  more  liberally  than  I  have  ever  before  been 
remunerated  for  any  kind  of  labour.  But  I  am  strongly 
disposed  to  suspect  foul  play  with  which  Gilford  is  un- 
acquainted.     Judge  for  yourself:  —  Murray  propounds 

VOL.    III.  D 


34  LETTERS   OF  1816. 

to  me,  among   other   subjects,  a  paper  upon  the   West 
Indies  ;    there  is  none  which  1  am  more  competent  to 
treat :  I  accepted  it,  and  intimated  an  intention  of  mak- 
ing it  conclude  with  refei'ence  to  the  "  Registry  Bilh" 
]\Iurray  is  well  pleased,  —  collects  abundant  pamphlets, 
takes  it  for  granted   that  I  must   take  part  with  the 
planters  and  slave  smugglers,  because  he  *'took  it  for 
granted  that  I   should    think   differently   from   Messrs. 
Jeffery  and  Brougham  ;"  and  finding  that  on  this  point 
(which  is  in  effect  the  question  of  the  Abolition)  I  agree 
with  them,  he  writes  to  solicit  me,  as  a  matter  in  which 
his   personal   interest  is   deeply  concerned,  that  I  will 
write  upon  any  other  subject.      There  are  two  modes  of 
accounting  for  this  :   he  may  have   West   Indian   pro- 
perty, or  connections,  and  in  that  case  have  formed  a 
fool's  opinion   upon  a  mistaken  notion  of  self-interest ; 
or,  he   has   submitted  his   Journal   to   some  undue  in- 
fluence.    I  pretend   not   to  say  what  money  has  been 
lavished    in    purchasing   newspapers,   &c.,   yet  he  can 
hardly  have  been  so  imprudent  as  to  sell  his  Review, 
and  damn  its  character  and  his  own,  should  the  truth 
be  suspected.     I,  of  course,  have  laid  the  subject  aside  ; 
but    as   I   made    no   secret  of  my  intention    to   write 
through  that  medium  upon  the  question,  I  have  warned 
him  to  beware  how  he  takes  the  other  side. 

Lord  Byron  calls  him  the  Grand  Murray.  I  have 
preserved  all  his  letters ;  tlieir  hints  and  their  flattery 
would  amuse  you  much.  When  next  you  come  to 
Keswick,  we  will  turn  over  these  papers  upon  a  rainy 
day,  and  put  them  in  some  order. 

By  accident  I  have  seen  a  number  of  the  "Exa- 
miner," containing  a  parody  upon  the  "  Proem  to  the 
Lay  :"  I  could  not  have  desired  it  to  be  more  silly,  or 
more  stupid.  You  are  included  in  it,  nommatim^  as  my 
wise  friend,  in  burlesquing  the  stanza  wherein  I  say, 
*'  The  friendship  of  the  wise  and  good  is  mine."     It  is 


181G.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  35 

hardly  worth  while  to  allude  to  such  attacks  seriousl}' ; 
but  if  you  will  send  me  back  the  chapters  of  "  The  Pro- 
phet Jehephary,"  *  I  will  alter  and  adapt  them  to  the 
present  date,  and  secure  their  appearance  in  the  "  Cou- 
rier "  by  sending  them  to  Stuart  myself. 

Recover,  if  you  can,  the  MSS.   of  my  last  two  ar- 
ticles.    Remember  me  to  all  at  home.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


'^U  23oo!i  of  t|)c  ^ropj^ct  ^djcpljnvy. 

CHAPTER  I. 

1.  In  those  days,  the  men  of  the  Party  were  sorely 
troubled,  for  behold,  none  of  those  things  were  fulfilled 
which  had  been  written  of  by  Jehephary  the  Proj^het,  and 
Peherri  the  Chroniclei",  and  Kawbit  of  the  Black  Guards. 

2.  And  the  spirit  of  melancholy  possessed  Jehephary  the 
Prophet,  and  he  was  tempted  to  destroy  himself,  for  he 
said :  Wherefore  should  I  live  to  see  the  triumph  of  mine 
enemies  ? 

3.  For  the  battle  hath  gone  against  us,  and  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  hath  been  sent  prisoner  to  the  Lone  Island  ;  and 
King  Joachim  hath  been  shot ;  and  Marshal  Ney,  him  also 
have  they  slain ! 

4.  And  the  Prince  and  his  Ministers  are  honoured,  for 
their  counsels  have  been  blest :  now,  then,  let  me  die,  that 
I  may  not  beliold  these  things. 

5.  Then  he  revolved  in  his  mind  by  what  death  he  should 
die  :  pistols  he  liked  not  since  the  affair  of  the  Moor  Thomas, 

*  As  the  "  History  of  the  Propliet  Jehephary  "  lias  got  abroad 
in  diffei'ent  shapes,  it  seems  better  to  print  it  at  once.  There  is 
but  one  person  hving  whom  it  concerns,  and  he  is  too  gifted  and 
too  kindhearted  to  be  hurt  at  a  long-exploded  squib. 

The  same  objection  may  possibly  be  made  to  this  as  to  the 
"  Ogliam  Fi-agment ;"  but  Southey's  reverence  for  the  Bible,  and 
his  humble  piet}',  are  unimpeachable. 

c  2 


36  LETTERS   OP  1816. 

and  poison  might  not  have  agreed  with  his  complection, 
and  to  have  tried  drowning  would  have  been  disregarding 
one  of  tlie  known  laws  of  the  constitution  of  things.  So 
he  determined  upon  a  rope. 

6.  And  he  sent  for  Brum  the  Scribe,  whom  he  thought 
that  it  behoved  to  die  with,  being  his  bosom  friend  and 
counsellor,  and  one  who  was  involved  in  the  same  dis- 
grace. 

7.  Now  when  Brum  the  Scribe  came  into  the  chamber 
of  Jehephary  the  Prophet,  he  found  him  sitting  disconso- 
lately in  a  flannel  robe,  and  a  white  nightcap. 

8.  Upon  the  table  before  him  Vt^as  the  play  of  Cato,  and 
the  last  number  of  the  Reekie  Review,  and  a  basin  of  water- 
gruel,  and  two  ropes  coiled  curiously. 

9.  His  face  was  of  the  colour  of  brimstone,  by  reason  of 
the  bile  which  was  diffused  through  his  whole  frame,  and 
his  beard  was  of  a  week's  growth. 

10.  And  Brum  the  Scribe  accosted  him,  but  Jehephary 
the  Prophet  regarded  him  awhile  mournfully  and  in  silence; 
and  when  he  brake  silence  he  said :  Behold,  we  are  become 
a  jest  unto  the  people,  and  the  laughing-stock  of  our 
adversaries  ! 

11.  For  the  spirit  whereby  I  prophecied  hath  deluded 
me  to  mine  own  destruction. 

12.  I  did  prophecy  concerning  Spain  that  it  should  be 
subdued,  and  concerning  Portugal  that  it  could  not  be 
defended,  and  behold  both  countries  have  been  delivered. 

13.  And  concerning  Russia  I  did  prophecy  that  the 
French  should  possess  it :  alas !  they  left  their  bones 
therein  ! 

14.  And  I  took  up  my  prophecy  concerning  the  Emperor 
Napoleon,  and  said  that  his  dominion  should  endure  for 
ever  :  but  lo !  it  hath  passed  away ! 

15.  Moreover,  I  prophecied  concerning  Bullion  that  our 
credit  was  destroyed,  and  see,  it  standeth  firmer  than 
before. 

16.  Worthwordos  also,  whom  I  have  already  reviled, 
riseth  daily  in  rc))utc ;  and  so  long  as  his  name  shall  endure 
with  honour,  mine  will  be  remembered  with  it,  only  to 
stink  in  the  nostrils  of  posterity. 


1810. 


ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  37 


1 7.  And  Sahouthy  the  Chief  Poet,  the  man  whom  I  most 
hate,  afflicteth  me  more  than  I  can  bear.  I  hear  his  praises, 
and  they  are  as  poison  in  my  ears. 

18.  He  writeth  notes  which  sting  even  like  scorpions  ; 
for  he  collecteth  the  words  of  prophecy  which  I  did  utter, 
and  placeth  beside  each  prophecy  the  event  Avhich  hath 
proved  it  false. 

19.  He  administereth  unto  me,  quarterly,  words  that  be 
bitterer  than  wormwood.  He  setteth  my  malice  at  defiance, 
and  holdeth  my  commendation  in  scorn,  so  that  I  cannot 
appease  him  with  unction,  as  I  did  Lord  Harold  the 
Giaour. 

20.  And  the  Reekie  Review,  the  child  of  our  bile  and 
of  our  brain,  even  thy  child  and  mine,  is  fallen  into  con- 
tempt.    It  is  better  to  die  tlian  to  endure  this  shame. 

21.  Forasmuch  as  it  toucheth  thee  also,  I  have  provided 
two  halters,  one  for  thee,  and  one  for  me,  that  we  may  die 
together.  Do  thou  fasten  the  noose  under  my  ear,  and  I 
will  fasten  it  under  thine. 

22.  But  Brum  the  Scribe  made  answer  and  said :  Not  so, 
for  there  is  yet  hope  for  us,  and  to  this  we  can  but  come  at 
last. 

[Here  endeth  the  First  Chapter  of  the  Book  of  the  Pi'opbet 

Jchepbary.] 


CHAP.  n. 

1.  True  it  is  that  while  the  Prince  liveth  I  shall  not  be 
Chief  Justice,  nor  ■wilt  thou  be  made  Lord  Advocate.  But 
the  place  of  Enemy's  Orator  in  the  great  council  hath  been 
vacated  by  the  death  of  our  friend  Whiteloaf ;  and  I  have, 
by  means  of  certain  influence,  been  appointed  to  fill  it,  so 
that  I  may  yet  do  the  state  some  disservice. 

2.  Moreover,  we  have  many  friends.  Are  there  not 
PeheiTi  the  Chronicler,  and  Lee  the  Huntsman,  and  Kaw- 
bit  of  the  Black  Guards,  and  Philip  the  Pythagorean,  who 
is  called    Syrr-itch-hardos,  and  Cahapel  the  Astronomer, 

D    3 


38  LETTERS   OF  1816. 

and  Love-ill  the  Statesman,  and  him  wliom  the  French  call 
ha  Perruqiie  Independente  ? 

3.  Also  wo  have  Surjami  our  colleague,  and  Shidnai  the 
jester. 

4.  The  Lord  of  the  Green-field  hath  forsaken  us,  and  the 
Marquis  of  the  Down-lands  walketh  in  his  own  way.  But 
the  Grey  Thane  is  with  us,  and  Lord  Harold  the  Giaour 
Avhom  thou  hast  anointed. 

5.  Moreover,  Cahapel  hath  read  the  stars,  and  the  aspects 
portend  change.  On  earth  also  there  be  comfortable  signs. 
There  be  those  in  France  who  would  set  the  son  of  Philip 
Egalite  upon  the  throne. 

6.  Comfort  thyself,  therefore :  sleep  now,  and  take  thy 
rest ;  and  when  sleep  shall  have  refreshed  thee,  thou  wilt 
prophecy  in  his  behalf. 

7.  And  Jehcphary  the  Prophet  was  comforted ;  but  he 
said  that  sleep  had  forsaken  him,  and  that  he  had  sought 
relief  from  sleeping  potions  but  in  vain. 

8.  Then  said  Brum  the  Scribe,  do  thou  lie  down,  and  I 
will  minister  unto  thee  that  thou  shalt  sleep. 

9.  So  Jehephary  the  Prophet  laid  him  down,  and 
Brum  the  Scribe  took  up  the  Reekie  Review,  and  began  to 
read  unto  him.  The  paper  which  he  read  was  the  composi- 
tion of  Surjami :  and  at  the  first  page  thereof  Jehephary 
the  Prophet  did  yawn,  and  at  the  second  he  closed  his  eyes, 
and  at  the  third  he  fell  asleep. 


[Here  endeth  the  Second  Chapter  of  the  Book  of  the  Prophet 

Jehephary.] 


CHAP.  III. 

1.  And  Jehephary  the  Prophet  dreamed  a  dream. 

2.  Behold  it  seemed  unto  him  in  his  sleep  that  there  was 
a  great  uproar,  and  the  men  of  the  party  triumphed,  and 
there  was  a  new  Government  in  the  land. 

3.  And  a  ship  was  sent  to  bring  the  Emperor  Napoleon 


18 IG.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  39 

from  the  Loue  Island,  and  to  carry  out  prisoners  there  in 
his  stead. 

4.  And  the  Bishops  were  put  down,  and  the  Church 
Lands  were  confiscated,  and  the  Tithes  were  abolished. 

5.  And  high-mass  was  performed  in  St.  Paul's ;  and  Duke 
Goliath  was  present  thereat,  and  Father  Mac  Burn'em 
preached  a  sermon,  and  the  words  of  his  text  were,  '  Com- 
pel them  to  come  in.' 

6.  And  the  great  church  of  Westminster  was  given  to 
the  Methodists  ;  and  Duke  Hengist  was  present  at  their 
service,  and  did  give  out  the  hymns :  the  Lord  Mayor  also 
attended,  and  the  mace  was  borne  before  him. 

7.  And  a  law  was  passed  against  paper  money,  and  an- 
other which  was  entitled.  For  the  better  security  of  the 
Liberty  of  the  Press  ;  and  by  the  law  it  was  made  felony, 
without  benefit  of  clergy,  to  contradict  anything  that  was 
said  in  the  Reekie  Review,  or  to  say  anything  which  might 
tend  to  bring  the  party  into  disrejDute. 

8.  Also  there  was  a  laAv  made  for  the  better  encourajie- 
ment  of  literature ;  and  by  that  law  it  was  decreed  that  a 
knowledge  of  Greek  was  not  necessary  for  the  learned 
professions : 

9.  And  that  the  Latin  prosody  should  be  reformed  ac- 
cording to  the  use  of  the  High  School  at  Edinburgh ;  and 
that  the  examples  in  the  Gradus  should  be  taken  from  the 
Electa  ex  Tentaminibus. 

10.  And  a  law  was  enacted  that  there  should  be  per- 
petual peace  for  evermore ;  but  the  operation  of  that  law 
was  suspended  for  awhile,  and  war  was  declared  against 
the  King  of  Spain,  because  of  his  treatment  of  the  Spanisli 
Protestants  ; 

11.  And  against  the  Prince  of  Brazil,  because  he  had  not 
abolished  the  Slave  Trade  ;  and  against  the  King  of  Franco 
because  he  was  of  the  old  family  ; 

12.  And  against  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  and  the  Emperor 
of  Austria,  and  the  King  of  Prussia,  because  they  had 
entered  into  an  evangelical  compact  with  each  other,  to  the 
manifest  danger  of  the  Christian  Religion,  the  Turkish 
Empire,  the  Balance  of  Power,  and  the  Man  in  the  Moon. 

D  4 


40  LETTERS    OF  1816. 

13.  Then  was  there  a  high  court  of  justice  established, 
and  power  was  given  vinto  Jehephary  the  Prophet  that  he 
should  pass  sentence  upon  his  enemies. 

14.  So  there  were  brought  before  him  Kawp-helsiton 
the  Provost,  and  Sahouthy  the  Chief  Poet,  and  Kahannin 
who  had  been  the  King's  minister,  and  Worthwordos,  and 
Giphardos,  and  Ivrokairos,  and  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 

15.  Then  the  heart  of  Jehephary  the  Prophet  rejoiced 
within  him,  and  he  called  for  the  executioners  and  said : 
Take  these  men,  and  let  them  bo  hanged  by  the  neck.  And 
he  smiled  for  joy  in  his  sleep. 

16.  But  behold  it  seemed  in  his  dream  that  Sahouthy  the 
Chief  Poet  reached  out  his  arm,  and  plucked  him  down  from 
his  seat,  and  setting  him  in  the  midst  of  the  court,  took  him 
between  his  two  hands,  and  spun  him  round  and  round,  like 
as  boys  do  spin  a  top : 

1 7.  And  each  of  the  men  upon  whom  he  had  been  sitting 
in  judgment  drew  forth  a  whip,  and  formed  a  circle  round 
him,  and  scourged  him  round  and  round.  And  Jehephary 
the  Prophet  cried  aloud  and  awoke  with  the  agony  thereof. 

[Here  cndeth  the  Third  Chapter  of  the  Book  of  the  Prophet 

Jehephary.] 


CHAP.  IV. 

1.  Now  when  it  was  seen  that  Jehephary  the  Prophet 
waxed  more  and  more  melancholic,  the  Physicians  Avcre  sent 
for,  that  they  might  consult  concerning  him,  and  see  if  they 
could  yield  him  relief. 

2.  And  they  enquired  of  him  where  the  seat  of  his  malady 
lay:  and  he  said  that  there  was  a  weak  part  in  his  head,  and 
that  if  a  strengthening  plaister  were  applied  to  it,  peradven- 
ture  he  might  be  relieved. 

.3.  Then  they  desired  that  Spurzheimer  the  Professor 
might  be  called ;  and  before  he  came  a  barber  was  sent  for, 
and  the  head  was  shaved  carefully. 

4.  No  sooner  had  Spurzheimer  looked  upon  the  skull  of 


1816.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  41 

the  patient,  than  he  started  like  a  man  who  was  greatly 
amazed,  and  he  exclaimed:  A  remarkable  headj  a  remarkable 
head,  indeed  :  never  before  have  I  seen  so  remarkable  a  head  ! 
And  the  countenance  of  the  Professor  brightened  like  that 
of  one  who  had  discovered  a  treasure. 

5.  The  first  part  which  he  remarked  was  the  organ  of 
party:  it  was  on  the  left  side,  and  of  such  enormous  size 
that  it  occupied  the  whole  space  where  the  organ  of  patriot- 
ism ought  to  have  been  found,  and  part  of  the  organ  of 
veracity. 

6.  There  Avas  no  organ  of  veracity ;  there  was  no  room 
for  it,  because  of  the  organ  of  party  on  one  hand,  and  the 
organ  of  malice  on  the  other. 

7.  And  behold  as  the  Professor  proceeded  in  the  exami- 
nation, he  lifted  up  his  hands  in  astonishment,  and  uttered 
a  German  interjection  of  surprise. 

8.  And  he  called  upon  those  who  were  present,  and  said, 
see  now  behold  this  organ  !  how  beautifully  it  is  marked, 
how  strongly  it  is  charactered  !  It  is  the  organ  of  assurance ; 
in  all  my  observations  I  have  never  seen  one  like  unto  it  for 
bigness! 

9.  How  decided  it  is !  how  firm  it  appeareth !  Saying  this, 
he  struck  it  with  the  nail  of  his  forefinger,  and  the  sound 
which  it  gave  was  hollow,  and  as  though  it  were  of  brass. 

10.  Where  the  organ  of  taste  should  have  been  there  was 
a  depression  of  the  head  :  and  when  the  Professor  touched 
the  depression  with  his  finger,  Jehephary  the  Prophet 
shrunk  and  cried  out,  for  it  was  a  sore  part. 

11.  Adjacent  thereto  was  the  organ  of  vanity,  which  re- 
sembled a  wen  more  than  a  projection  of  the  skull :  it  was 
so  great,  and,  moreover,  pulpy ;  and  this  also  was  sore  to 
the  touch. 

12.  And  Jehephary  the  Prophet  said.that  blows  had  been 
given  him  there  by  Giphardos,  and  by  Kawp-helsiton  the 
Provost,  and  Sahouthy  the  Chief  Poet.  Moreover,  there 
was  an  old  bruise  on  that  part  of  the  head  which  he  had  re- 
ceived from  Thelwallus  the  oi'ator. 

13.  Then  said  the  Professor,  this  is  the  weak  part :  it  is 
here  that  the  remedy  must  be  applied. 

14.  And  there  were  many  opinions  among  the  physicians ; 


42  LETTERS   OP  181C. 

and  when  his  friends  saw  that  they  differed  among  them- 
selves, they  delivered  each  their  council. 

lo.  Shidnai  the  jester  said  that  the  best  application  would 
be  essence  of  damages,  such  as  was  sold  at  great  price  in 
Westminster  Hall. 

16.  But  Brum  the  Scribe  said  that  peradventure  this 
might  not  be  had  ;  and  that  he  had  a  soft  part  in  his  own 
head,  which  he  protected  by  means  of  a  brazen  case.  Ah, 
now,  said  the  Professor,  suffer  me  to  examine  it !  And  when 
Spurzheimer  looked  he  found  that  the  organ  of  discretion  in 
the  head  of  Brum  the  Scribe  was  in  a  diseased  state. 

17.  Then  Archy  the  Constable  spake,  and  advised  that 
Jchephary  the  Prophet  should  be  anointed  on  the  sore  part 
with  oil  of  flattery.  The  physicians  approved  thereof.  It 
gave  him  ease  during  the  application,  but  immediately  after- 
wards the  soi'eness  returned  as  before. 

18.  But  behold  while  they  Avere  consulting  what  farther 
should  be  done,  an  old  woman  who  had  been  his  nurse  came 
into  the  room,  crying,  Ah,  well  a  day  !  It  is  all  in  vain  !  I 
said  it  would  be  so !     It  is  too  late  for  the  operation  ! 

19.  And  they  asked  her  what  operation?  What!  she 
made  answer.  Do  ye  not  know  ?  It  is  all  because  he  has 
never  been  cut  for  the  simples. 

[Here  endeth  the  Fourth  Chapter  of  the  Book  of  the  Prophet 

Jehephary.] 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Sept.  7.  1816. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  would  fain  give  your  two  letters  all  the  consi- 
deration they  deserve,  so  you  shall  have  my  first  fresh 
thoughts  at  present,  and  my  maturer  opinion  when  I 
liave  chewed  the  cud. 


181C.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  43 

So  far  as  I  can  render  any  service  towards  upholding- 
the  existing  Government  (by  which  you  will  understand 
I  do  not  mean  a  mere  Ministry,  but  the  old  English 
order  of  things  as  by  our  Fathers  established,  and  by 
me  to  be,  if  possible,  transmitted  unimpaired),  I  am 
ready  to  exert  myself  to  the  utmost,  without  regard  to 
any  personal  considerations.  But  in  what  manner  I 
could  do  this  more  effectually  than  I  have  for  seven 
years  past  been  endeavouring  to  do  it  in  the  "  Quar- 
terly Review,"  and  during  four  years  of  that  time  in  the 
"  Edinburgh  Annual  Register,"  I  cannot  tell.  To  the 
management  of  a  journal  (if  any  such  thing  be  contem- 
plated) I  am  not  equal. 

If  a  full  exposition  of  the  state  of  things,  a  full  dis- 
play of  our  danger,  and  a  resolute  appeal  to  the  sound 
part  of  the  community  should  be  thought  likely  to  be 
beneficial,  I  am  ready  to  undertake  the  task,  and  to 
perform  it  with  all  my  heart,  and  with  all  my  soul,  and 
with  all  my  strength.  The  possible  advantage  is,  that 
such  an  appeal  might  strengthen  the  Government,  and 
enable  them  to  do  what  I  advised  in  1812,  and  what 
must  he  done  if  they  would  escape  an  attemjDt,  at  leasts 
of  a  Jacobinical  revolution,  —  that  is,  to  curb  the  licen- 
tiousness of  the  Press.*  My  remedy  is  to  make  trans- 
portation the  punishment  for  sedition,  and  thus  to  rid 
the  country  of  those  who  would  set  it  on  fire.  I  could 
produce  such  a  pamphlet  as  should  startle  the  nation,  if 
exertion  were  made  to  circulate  it :  without  such  exer- 
tion it  would  fail  to  do  this.  Burke's  name  was  such 
as  to  make  thousands  read  his  "  Reflections  "  who  were 
incapable  of  understanding  him.  My  name  carries  with 
it  no  such  charm,  but  all  who  read  shall  understand  me. 

It  does  not  appear  to  me  (at  present)  that  it  would 


*  Southey's  opinion  on  this  bead  must  always  be  rightly  under- 
stood.    He  did  not  wish  to  curb  the  Press,  but  its  licentiousness. 


44  LETTERS   OF  1816, 

be  of  any  use  to  see  Lord  S or  any  of  the  persons 

in  power.  I  believe  that  an  interview  would  tend  to 
abate  their  favourable  opinion  of  my  practical  talents, 
in  whatever  manner  they  might  estimate  me  in  other 
respects.  I  am  not  a  man  of  business, — I  am  not  a  man 
of  the  world.  They  might  be  displeased  ;  1  am  certain 
they  would  be  disappointed.  In  the  open  field  of  con- 
versation, there  are  five  hundred  men  who  might  excel 
me,  or  baffle  me  ;  but  at  my  post  I  defy  the  world. 

The  sum  of  this  is,  that  if  it  be  desired  I  will  write 
upon  the  state  of  the  nation  :  taking  it  in  all  points  of 
view,  looking  the  danger  fairly  in  the  face,  and  calling 
upon  the  Government  to  act  vigorously. 

I  am  interrupted  ;  this,  however,  may  suffice  for  to- 
night. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Rickman,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Sept.  14.  1816. 

My  dear  Rickman, 

It  would  be  inconvenient  for  me  to  leave  home, 
and  very  reluctant  should  I  be  to  do  it,  yet  it  is  most 
likely  that  you  will  see  me  ere  long  :  for  I  suppose 
Lord  L.'s  desire  of  seeing  me  will  be  repeated.  I  have 
stated  the  danger  broadly,  and  as  broadly  affirmed,  that 
unless  the  licentiousness  of  the  press  be  checked,  nothing 
(as  far  as  my  judgment  can  foresee)  can  preserve  us 
from  revolution,  and  that  in  its  most  fearful  shape. 
There  are  ten  pages  in  No.  XVI.  of  the  "Quarterly 
lleview,"  which  might  have  alarmed  the  Government  at 
that  time,  and  perhaps  would  have  done  so,  if  they  had 
leisure  to  think  of  anything  besides  the  war.     I  must 


1816.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  45 

say  the  same  things  again  in  a  difFerent  form,  and  go 
through  the  whole  causes  which  are  hurrying  us  on  to 
anarchy.  You  must  aid  me  with  hints  and  corrections ; 
you  know  I  am  ever  willing  to  learn,  and  upon  many 
points  properly  distrustful  of  myself.  But  when  I  have 
the  facts  and  the  knowledge,  no  man  knows  better  how 
to  bring  them  out. 

As  to  Owen,  he  is  far  gone  in  metaphysics,  but 
neither  rogue  nor  madman.  We  must  see  Lanark 
before  we  can  fairly  appreciate  what  he  has  done.  In 
his  views  of  society  he  is  an  enthusiast,  and  most  im- 
prudently blurts  them  out,  when  they  can  answer  no 
possible  purpose  but  that  of  raising  an  outcry  against 
him,  and  injuring  him  in  every  way.  I  myself  have  a 
much  stronger  inclination  to  believe  him  right  in  the 
opinion,  that  to  a  community  of  lands  we  must  come  at 
last,  than  I  should  choose  to  avow  ;  but  in  my  view  of 
things,  it  can  only  be  arrived  at  as  the  result  of  the 
greatest  possible  improvements  in  society  :  it  is  a  little 
in  favour  of  this  system  that  it  is  the  point  upon  which 
most  Utopia-framers  have  agreed;  and  that  it  does  not 
necessarily  debilitate  the  character  is  proved  by  Sparta, 
the  men  of  which  were  not  men-children,  but  men 
indeed.  Let  us  leave  this  where  it  ought  to  be  left, — 
among  good  hopes  and  harmless  speculations. 

Manufactures  are  overdone,  if  a  greater  quantity  of 
goods  are  produced  than  can  be  consumed, —  in  other 
words,  if  the  supply  exceeds  the  demand.  This  error, 
I  grant,  corrects  itself;  but,  in  the  meantime,  it  pro- 
duces the  evil  under  which  we  are  now  suffering:  when 
every  nation  manufactures  for  itself  all  that  it  is  capable 
of  manufacturing,  no  danger  of  this  kind  will  exist. 
But  it  is  obvious,  that  as  we  improve  in  machinery 
(observe,  I  fully  admit  that  it  is  an  improveme7}t, —  the 
greatest  of  all  improvements  in  society,  to  make  brute 
matter  do  the  work   of  intellect),  fewer  hands  are  re- 


46  LETTERS    OF  1816. 

quired,  and  that  the  market  being  already  stocked, 
every  improvement  which  facilitates  the  production  of 
goods  lessens  the  employment  for  workmen.  Over 
such  things  Government  can  have  no  control,  but  (as  at 
Lanark)  the  condition  of  the  workmen  may  be  bettered, 
and  when  men  are  contented,  they  are  good  subjects. 
Men  like  H.,  with  an  abstract  love  of  evil,  quoad  evil, 
are  monsters.  You  will  not  rank  me  among  the  Basil 
Montagues  and  mock  humanit}'  mongers,  but,  in  ni}' 
judgment,  the  best  way  to  keep  the  poor  in  obedience 
is  to  better  their  condition.  We  will  talk  over  our 
heresies,  perfectly  sure  of  agreeing  upon  what  ought  to 
be  tolerated,  and  the  nonsense  which  is  talked  about 
toleration. 

God  bless  you. 

Robert  Southey. 


To  John  May,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Oct.  18.  1816. 

My  dear  Friend, 

Herewith  I  send  you  a  draft  upon  Longman  for 
100/.  at  three  days*  siglit.  The  last  twelve  months  have 
proved  highly  advantageous  to  my  raonied  concerns,  and 
for  the  first  time  have  made  the  balance  of  his  accounts 
in  my  favour.  There  is  good  reason  for  hoping  that  it 
will  continue  so,  and  that  it  will  not  be  long  before  I 
shall  be  able  to  clear  off  my  debt  with  you.  "Roderick" 
has  produced  for  me  above  500/.  by  three  editions,  and 
the  fourth  will  by  this  time  have  paid  its  expenses.  Oi 
the  "Pilgrimage"  2000  were  printed:  they  were  all 
sold  in  the  course  of  two  months,  leaving  me  a  profit  of 


1816.  ROBEllT   SOUTUEY,  47 

215/.  My  account  only  comes  up  to  midsummer,  and 
therefore  does  not  include  the  "  Carmen  Nuptiale,"  of 
the  fate  of  which  I  know  nothing ;  —  not,  indeed,  what 
number  was  printed. 

The  prospect  before  me  is  very  good.     The  produce 
of  my  cun-ent  publications  may  be  reckoned  at  200/.  a 
year  certainly,  not  improbably  at  twice  the   sum  ;  and 
Murray  pays  me  so  well  for  the   "  Quarterly,"  that  I 
hope  there  will  be  no  occasion  to  trench  much  upon  the 
other  fund  for  my  household  expenses.      For  some  sub- 
jects he  offers  me  100/.  per  article  :  such  was  that  upon 
the  poor  in  the  last  number,  and  one  upon  foreign  tra- 
vellers in  England  which  is  designed  for  this,  and  which 
I  am  busy  in  completing.     I  have  no  debt  but  the  one 
to  you,  and  this  I  have  great  hopes  of  liquidating  in  the 
course  of  another  year  ;  for  the  next  year  is  likely  to  be 
a  productive  one.  The  preface  to  "  Morte  Darthur  "  (for 
which  I  am  reading  much  black  letter,  at  some  cost  of 
eyesight  and  no  little  expense  of  time)  will  give  me 
200/.,  and  the  second  volume  of  "  Brazil  "  about  half  as 
much,  a  preposterous  instance  of  the  caprice  upon  which 
a  man  of  letters  depends  for  his  remuneration  !  Perhaps 
the  average  may  be  fair  at  last,  but  it  is  injurious  as  well 
as  ridiculous  that  I  should  derive  my  main  support  from 
what  other  persons  might  do  as  well,  and  what  might  as 
well  not  be  done  at  all ;  while  for  works  of  permanent 
value  and  great  labour,  for  which  peculiar  knowledge, 
peculiar  talents,  and  peculiar  industry  are  required,  the 
profit  which  I  obtain  would  scarcely  exceed,  and  perhaps 
not  amount  to,  the  expenses  of  the  documents.      This 
volume  will   certainly  be  published   at  Christmas,  and 
though  it  will  be  less  interesting  than  the  concluding 
volume,  1  think  you  will  not  be  disappointed  in  its  con- 
tents.     There  will  be  no  delay  with  the  conclusion  ;   I 
shall  never  lay  it  aside   till   it  is  completed,  and  the 
printing  will  be  pursued  without  interruption. 


48  LETTEKS   OF  1816. 

I  have  written  no  verses  till  this  week,  when  I  re- 
sumed the  "  Tale  of  Paraguay,"  which  I  may  perhaps 
finish  for  publication  in  the  spring.  There  is  another 
subject  nearer  my  heart,  but  I  must  refi'ain  from  it  a 
while  longer.  It  has  pleased  God  to  support  us  merci- 
fully under  the  severest  of  all  privations,  and  it  would 
be  sinful  as  well  as  in  the  last  degree  unwise,  were  I  by 
any  means  to  foster  feelings  which  it  is  my  dut}',  as  far 
as  possible,  to  overcome. 

The  summer  (if  summer  it  may  be  called)  has  brought 
with  it  more  interruptions  than  usual,  and  unavoidably 
robbed  me  of  precious  time  which  I  could  ill  afford.  I 
am  in  consequence  behindhand  with  many  things,  of 
which  my  long  silence  towards  you  is  one  proof.  Mr. 
Walpole's  memoir  I  shall  resume  upon  the  first  inter- 
val ;  it  is  upon  my  conscience  as  the  heaviest  of  all  my 
sins  of  omission.  The  "  History  of  the  War"  would  go 
to  press  if  the  introductory  chapter  were  finished:  yet 
for  this,  which  is  less  than  an  article  for  the  *'  Review," 
I  have  not  found  time.  When  I  have  reviewed  Koster's 
book,  I  will  abstain  from  minor  articles,  and  dispose  of 
the  time  then  gained  to  better  purposes.  Here  is  a 
letter  full  of  my  own  concerns ;  but  I  will  not  apologise 
to  you. 

I  can  enter  fully  into  the  feelings  which  your  present 
awful  situation  must  excite.  Wholesome  they  are, — 
however  painful.  We  must  not  envy  those  who  are  on 
the  threshold  of  our  Father's  house,  but  we  may  be 
thankful  that  every  day  brings  us  nearer  to  it  ourselves. 
Meantime  I  labour  diligently  to  acquire  knowledge 
which  I  may  leave  behind,  and  to  treasure  up  affections 
which  I  may  bear  with  me. 

Nash  has  made  beautiful  drawings  of  my  four  girls. 
Your  god-daughter  is  well,  and  comes  on  in  all  things 
as  I  could  wish  her ;  the  others,  thank  God,  and  their 
mother,  are  well  also  ;  and  my  own  health  perhaps  is 


1816.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  49 

better  for  the  exercise  which   I   have  taken  with  my 
various  visitors. 

We  have  gloomy  prospects,  of  which  it  is  easier  to  see 
the  causes  than  the  consequences.  I  very  much  fear 
that  the  efforts  which  are  making  to  inflame  the  discon- 
tents of  a  distressed  people,  will  produce  dreadful  effects. 
This  is  a  wide  subject,  and  I  have  no  room  to  enter 
upon  it.  Whatever  I  shall  see  during  the  dark  season 
is  what  I  cannot  tell.  Possibly  I  may  be  called  to  town, 
but  it  will  be  with  much  unwillingness  on  my  part. 
The  winter  is  my  working  time ;  in  the  summer  I 
follow  the  example  of  the  grasshopper  more  than  of 
the  ant. 

Remember  me  most  kindly  to  Mrs.  May  and  your 
daughters.  Remember  me  also  to  John  Coleridge,  whom 
I  should  be  truly  glad  to  see  at  Keswick. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


Messrs.  Longman  and  Co. 

Keswick,  Dec.  14.  1816. 
Dear  Sir, 

I  have  sent  off  the   "  S.   Greaal"  this  day  by 

coach,  carefully  packed  in  a  box,  and  with  it  the  Italian 

«  Trystans,"  *  the  «  Life  of  "Merlin,"  and  the  "  British 

Bibliographers,"  vol.  i.     I  shall  now  be  much  obliged 

to  Mr.  Laing  for   the    "  Perceval,"   which    I  will   not 

detain    so    long,    but    go    through    it   without    delay. 

The   "  Morte  Darthur"   draws   more  largely  from  the 

"  S.  Greaal"  than  from  any  other  source  that  I  have 

*  "  According  to  the  Cymric  orthography  of  the  name." — Pre- 
face to  "  MoRTE  Darthur,"  p.  xv. 
VOL.  III.  E 


50  LETTERS   OF  1816. 

yet  traced  ;  but  upon  this  subject  I  purpose  writing  to 
Mr.  Douce,  and  will  enclose  the  letter  to  you,  as  I 
know  not  where  to  address  him.  He  has  great  informa- 
tion upon  these  subjects,  and  is  liberal  in  communi- 
cating it.  There  is  a  book  by  Davies,  the  Welch  anti- 
quarian, which  I  believe  contains  some  speculations 
about  Arthur ;  not  his  "  Celtic  Researches,"  but  a 
volume  which  he  published  afterwards.  Pray  let  me 
see  it. 

The  set  of  the  "  Acta  Sanctorum "  has  been  com- 
pleted for  me,  and  Verbeest  *,  of  Brussels,  will  draw 
upon  you  for  the  payment —  500  francs.  I  do  not  know 
in  what  condition  the  binding  is  ;  but  if  it  should  stand 
in  need  of  repairs  or  lettering,  have  the  goodness  to 
get  them  put  in  order.  Mr.  Vardon  will  give  them  a 
passage  to  Newcastle.  This  is  a  work  without  which 
no  historical  library  can  be  complete  ;  I  shall  find  it  of 
great  importance  in  completing  my  "  History  of  Por- 
tugal." ....  Yours,  &c. 

R.  S. 


*  Southey  took  very  much  to  Verbeest.  In  his  journal,  before 
referred  to,  I  find  the  following  notice  of  him  :  — 

"  Verbeest,  the  bookseller  —  a  very  singular  and  striking  man. 
A  more  thorough  sloven  I  never  saw,  and  seldom  or  never  a  man 
with  a  better  and  finer  countenance.  Frequent  as  my  visits  to  him 
were,  I  never  happened  to  see  him  entirely  dressed ;  sometimes  he 
was  without  neckcloth,  sometimes  without  stockings Ver- 
beest is  no  ordinary  bookseller.  lie  has  a  thorough  love  of  books, 
and  he  told  me  he  would  not  exchange  the  pleasure  which  he 
found  in  reading  for  any  advantage  of  wealth  or  station,"  &c.,  &c., 
&C. —  Tour  in  the  Netherlands^  MSS.  Journal,  pp.  46,  47. 


1817.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  51 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jan.  20.  1817. 
My  dear  Grosvenor, 

The  pantaloons   {uglyisimi  colons)   arrived  tins 

day,  with  the  paper  and  the  verses  of  my  brother  poet, 

the  bellman  ;   but  the  Almanacks  and  the  Lioness  were 

not   forthcoming,  to   the   great   disappointment  of  the 

eager  expectants,  who  were  looking  on.   The  Almanacks 

may  come  in  Murray's   next  parcel,   and  the  Lioness, 

unless  she  weighs  above  two  ounces  (which  I  suppose 

she  will  not),  under  one  of  Rickman's  franks.     It  is 

very  strenuously  inquired  for. 

I  have  made  large  additions  to  this  article  in  the 
"  Quarterly,"  which  I  think  may  be  called  my  papel 
forte  (a  title,  by  the  by,  which  you  will  not  understand 
till  you  have  read  my  forthcoming  volume  of  "  Brazil").* 
The  new  matter  relates  to  the  Spencean  philanthropists, 
Murray,  at  my  desire,  having  got  their  publication  for 
me  ;  and  to  Cobbett,  a  chance  paper  or  two  of  his 
having  fallen  into  my  hands.  You  will  see  that  I  have 
spoken  very  plainly  upon  many  subjects,  though  not 
upon  all.  Will  GifFord,  think  you,  let  my  proposal 
stand  for  putting  up  boroughs  to  auction  ?  Windham 
would  have  agreed  with  me  in  every  single  point. 

What  will   they  do  with   these  rioters,  if  they  are 

found  guilty  ?    I  would  not  hang  them,  especially ; 

it  will  make  him  an  object  of  compassion  ;  and  nothing 
is  so  impolitic  as  to  excite  that  feeling  in  behalf  of 
the  enemies  of  Government.  If  he  be  found  guilty 
(which  I  am  inclined  to  doubt  from  the  nature  of  his 
defence   and   the   humour  of  the   day),  the  offence   is 

*  Papel  forte,  or  strong  memorial  of  Vieyra  to  Joam  IV. — His- 
tory of  Brazil,  vol.  ii.  p.  •222. 

E  2 


52  LETTERS   OF  1817. 

capital ;  but  I  would,  as  soon  as  possible,  make  it 
known  that  the  punishment  should  be  commuted  into 
transportation  for  life,  not  waiting  for  popular  feeling 
to  be  expressed  upon  the  subject.  The  man  has  been 
made  desperate  by  misery.  I  would  treat  him  humanely, 
save  only  that  his  going  sliould  be  compulsory,  and  for 
life  ;  he  should  go  as  a  settler,  be  treated  as  such,  and 
encouraged  to  take  his  family  with  him.  Governments 
are  never  aware  how  much  they  may  gain  by  affecting 
this  kind  of  generosity.  Young  W.  should  be  hung, 
without  mercy,  for  shooting  Piatt,  unless  a  fair  plea  of 
insanity  could  be  made  out. 

Murray  will  send  me  down  the  article  as  soon  as  it  is 
printed  ;  the  first  part,  showing  the  war  to  have  been 
popular,  will,  with  certain  additions,  make  the  first 
chapter  of  the  book.  The  personal  matter,  which  in 
the  "  Review"  is  properly  placed  as  well-timed,  may  be 
discarded,  and  left  to  perish  there.  The  paper  will  be 
talked  of,  extracted  into  some  of  the  newspapers,  and 
well  railed  at  in  others.  Meantime  Longman  calls  for 
the  preface  to  "  Morte  Darthur,"  and  I  am  deep  in  the 
"  History  of  the  Round  Table."  This  head  of  mine  is 
Curiously  furnished  with  separate  assortments  of  matter. 
T  have  just  finished  the  second  volume  of  "  Brazil." 
I  am  busy  upon  Sydenham's  "  Peninsular  Papers,"  and 
have  other  occupation,  all  as  remote  from  each  other  as 
the  dead  Arthur  and  the  living  one.  The  living 
Arthur's  connections  are  very  civil  to  me,  and  look 
anxiously  for  my  book.  I  have  a  note  to-night  from 
Richard  Wellesley,  who  has  sent  me  books,  and  offers 
personal  communication.  I  mean  to  say  that  he  in- 
vites me  to  ask  iiim  any  questions  respecting  persons  or 
things  within  his  knowledge.  The  papers  which  Sy- 
denham has  sent  me  are,  some  of  them,  in  the  strictest 
sense  of  the  term,  confidential.  They  are  in  the  highest 
degree  interesting. 


1817.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  53 

Nasli  is  returned  to  London.  He  is  to  send  me  a 
frame  for  a  prodigiously  fine  drawing  of  W.  Westall's, 
and  your  honour  will  pay  him  for  it.  Remember  also 
your  own  face,  as  soon  as  the  proboscis  shall  have  re- 
turned to  its  natural  dimensions,  which  I  trust  it  has  by 
this  time. 

When  I  go  to  town,  I  shall  not  seek  any  interview 
with  the  Noddles,  because  it  would  be  perfectly  useless. 
Harry  Inglis  has  made  a  sort  of  engagement  for  me  to 
meet  Lord  Sidmouth,  at  his  house,  with  Wilberforce 
(who  has  fiillen  in  friendship  with  me)  of  the  party. 
Wilberforce,  I  should  tell  you,  is  one  of  my  curmud- 
geons. Vide  Ash's  "  Dictionary."  This  will  end  in  a 
good  dinner  ;  but  I  would  have  the  Noddles  reminded, 
whenever  they  speak  well  of  my  deserts,  that  I  have  a 
brother  in  the  navy,  and  desire  nothing  so  much  as  pro- 
motion for  him. 

Remember  me  to  all  at  home.       God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Hickman,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jan.  21.  1817. 

My  dear  Rickman, 

The  contents  wait  for  the  arrival  of  one  more 
proof. 

Have  you  read  Mariner's  book,  which  so  delights  the 
Capitaneus  ?  I  saw  it  in  manuscript,  and  only  wish 
Mariner  had  written  it  himself.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose 
that  any  people  should,  within  the  memory  of  man, 
have  begun  to  make  war  for  the  first  time  since  they 
were  a  people,  in  imitation  of  their  neighbours.  I 
suspect  also  the  poem,  vol.  i.  p.  o07.     But  in  the  main, 

E  3 


54  LETTERS  OF  1817. 

the  book  is  and  must  be  true,  and  an  admirable  picture 
of  savage  man, —  the  animal  being  of  a  fine  sort. 

Did  I  tell  you  that  I  have  a  large  cargo  of  papers 
from  Mr.  Sydenham  (Marquis  Wellesley's  friend)  ?  || 
Among  other  highly  curious  facts,  I  learn  from  them 
that  we  sent  arms  and  stores  to  Prussia  as  early  as  the 
autumn  of  1811  ;  and  I  have  Blucher's  word  for 
it,  that  if  the  Walcheren  army  had  landed  in  the  north 
of  Germany,  the  whole  Prussian  force  in  disobedience 
of  their  Government  would  have  joined  it. 

I  am  now  fairly  behind  the  curtain  with  Lord  Wel- 
lington in  all  his  operations,  as  far  as  to  the  end  of 
1812. 

God  bless  you. 

Robert  Southey. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.  P. 

Keswick,  Jan.  27.  1817. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

If  you  were  but  in  the  Administration,  instead  of 
out  of  it,  there  is  but  one  question  upon  which  there 
would  be  a  shade  of  difference  between  us.  Just  after 
receiving  your  letter,  I  cut  out  the  enclosed  extract 
from  the  **  Times."  In  discharging  men  from  the  army 
and  navy,  it  is  possible  that  much  private  good  might 
be  effected  by  a  very  easy  arrangement  in  paying  off  a 
regiment ;  for  instance,  allowing  those  men  who  would 
prefer  remaining  in  the  service  to  exchange  with  others 
in  a  retained  regiment  who  desire  their  discharge  ;  and 
80  with  ships.  As  for  the  newspaper  story,  the  Lord 
Mayor's  language   is  very  reprehensible,  like   the   rest 


1817.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  55 

of  his  conduct ;  but  I  am  afraid  there  is  some  cause 
for  it.  It  is  inserted  in  the  "  Times"  for  the  sake  of 
doing  mischief.  Walter,  the  proprietor  of  that  news- 
paper, believes  that  neither  the  Ministry,  nor  the  Oppo- 
sition can  stand,  and  that  Hunt  is  about  to  be  Lord  of 
the  Ascendant ;  he  has  therefore  dismissed  Stoddart, 
who  was  for  many  years  the  editor,  and  the  paper  is  be- 
coming Jacobinical  as  fast  as  possible,  in  order  to  swim 
with  the  stream.  This  turmoil  may  easily  be  allayed, 
if  Ministers  have  courage  to  act  as  they  ought :  and  on 
this  your  party  would  go  with  them.  But  I  doubt  their 
courage,  and  I  doubt  their  wisdom  ;  and  if  things  are 
suffered  to  go  on,  a  bold  push  will  certainly  be  made 
for  revolution.  You  will  receive  my  second  volume  of 
"  Brazil "  in  two  or  three  weeks :  a  book  necessarily 
unlike  other  histories  in  many  respects.  Some  parts 
will  interest  you  much ;  I  am  busy  upon  the  third 
volume,  fully  purposing  (if  I  have  health  as  well  as  life) 
to  bring  it  out  in  twelve  months  from  this  time,  and 
thus  complete  a  work  of  extraordinary  labour,  the  value 
of  which  will  not  be  appreciated  by  many  readers  in 
this  country.  I  could  get  more  money  by  one  month's 
employment  for  the  "  Quarterly  Review,"  than  this 
volume  will  produce  me  ;  but  on  the  other  hand  this  is 
for  myself  and  for  posterity.* 

Have  you  read  "  Mariner's  Tonga  Islands  "  ?     I  had 
the  manuscript  here  :  a  singularly  curious  book. 

I  have  been  very  much  interested  with  the  letters  of 
Sydenham  who  died  lately — (I  believe  he  married  poor 

*  The  Bishop  of  Guiana,  who  had  returned  to  England  to  re- 
cruit his  wasted  strength,  happening  to  be  in  Worthing  for  the 
winter,  requested  me  to  lend  him  the  "  History  of  the  Brazils."  He 
read  it  over  and  over  again  (as  I  was  informed ),  and  on  returning 
it,  told  me  that  he  had  never  read  so  valuable  and  correct  a  work 
in  all  its  particulars  and  details.  From  one  who  had  resided  in 
Guiana  many  years,  this  was  a  most  valuable  testimony.  It  must 
always  be  the  work  of  standard  authority. 

£  4 


56  LETTERS   OF  1817. 

Bunbury's  widow) — written  from  Spain  during  the  war. 
They  are  among  the  papers  which  his  brother  has  sent 
me,  through  my  brother  Harry,  who  got  acquainted  with 
him  in  attending  Marquis  Wellesley  at  Ramsgate.  I  saw 
also  many  papers  of  Marquis  Wellesley,  Lord  Welling- 
ton, and  Sir  C.  Stuart :  all  greatly  to  the  credit  of  the 
writers.  This  history  of  mine  ought  to  be  a  good  one, 
the  subject  being  so  fine,  and  my  materials  so  copious 
and  of  such  authenticity.  I  shall  bring  up  about  half  a 
volume  to  the  press  in  April. 

The  "  Morte  Darthur  "  will  be  published  soon.  I  have 
collected  a  good  many  notes,  and  am  now  busy  upon  the 
preface. 

I  look  with  more  anxiety  than  usual  for  the  meeting 
of  Parliament.  Put  a  stop  to  the  incendiary  journals, 
and  all  other  evils  will  cure  themselves  ;  but  if  you  let 
them  go  on  unchecked,  in  no  long  time  we  must  inevi- 
tably come  to  mob  law,  or  bayonet  law.  I  have  heard 
no  hint  as  to  the  intentions  of  Ministers,  but  I  know 
they  are  frightened  :  the  less  likely,  therefore,  are  they 
to  act  as  they  should  do. 

God  bless  you. 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

XV.    S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Jan.  29.  1817. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  am  neither  surprised  nor  sorry  at  what  you 
tell  me  of  the  Prose-gelder's  intentions.  The  more  he 
cuts  out  from  the  "  Review,"  the  more  he  leaves  fresh 
for  the  book ;   and  it  is  better  that  the  strongest  things 


1817.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  57 

should  appear  where  they  will  be  accompanied  with 
free  language  respecting  the  Anti-Jacobins  and  the 
Noddles,  and  the  great  sinecures,  than  where  these  are 
forbidden  topics,  and  I  seem  rather  to  the  reader  as  a 
partisan,  than  as  in  truth  I  am  and  ought  to  appear. 
1  have  desii'ed  Murray  to  send  me  the  paper  as  soon  as 
it  is  printed  ;  but  for  fear  he  should  not  send  it  in  Its 
genuine  state,  do  you  secure  for  me  the  manuscript. 
We  may  be  quite  sure  that  the  boldest  and  best  parts 
are  those  which  will  be  omitted. 

My  letters  to  you  are  such  pure  Meipseads  that  I 
have  seldom  room  or  leisure  for  any  but  personal  con- 
cerns, and  therefore  it  is  that  you  have  heard  nothing 
from  me  of  Chauncey  Townsend,  who  is,  however,  as 
far  as  it  is  possible  to  judge  by  his  verses  and  his  letters, 
a  highly  interesting  youth.  His  poetry  is  of  uncommon 
promise  ;  and  it  is  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  hear  from 
him,  though  I  can  ill  afford  time  for  my  part  of  the 
correspondence ;  being  indeed  too  old,  as  well  as  too 
busy,  for  the  epistolary  mood. 

I  knew  you  would  be  delighted  with  the  drawing  of 
the  two  girls :  yet  there  is  one  here  of  Edith  *,  sitting 
on  a  mountain  side,  which  I  think  is  more  beautiful, 
and  is,  indeed,  according  to  my  perception,  the  perfect 
ideal  of  innocence  ;  and  the  three  younger  ones  over 
my  chimney  are  so  delightfully  grouped,  that  it  is  worth 
while  to  come  to  Keswick  for  the  sake  of  seeing  the 
picture.  My  blank  verse  poem  will  probably  not  be 
printed  while  I  live  ;  these  drawings  should  one  day 
be  engraved  to  accompany  it,  and  that  view  which 
Nash  has  made  of  the  church  may  come  in  for  the 
frontispiece  with  my  tombstone  in  the  foreground. 
We  were  very  much  attached  to  Nash.  The  children's 


'  ♦  This  hangs  now  before  me  as  I  correct  the  proof  in  the  draw- 
ing-room at  West  Tarring. 


58  LETTERS   OP  1817 

eyes  sparkle  with  delight  when  they  talk  of  him.  I  want 
him  to  take  a  six  weeks'  run  on  the  Continent  with  me 
when  I  come  to  town,  and  then  return  with  me  to  Kes- 
wick. The  "  Torso  "  is  an  excellent  thing:  by  the  by, 
this  rich  book  is  in  such  forwardness  that,  if  you  will 
only  come  down  this  summer  and  spur  me  on,  we  will 
have  it  ready  for  publication  by  Christmas.  Poor  Nash 
is  no  caprice  of  Nature's  :  his  deformity  is  the  effect  of 
an  accident  when  he  was  twelve  years  old.  One  of  his 
portraits  of  me  is  more  like  the  Doctor.  When  I  come 
to  town,  I  must  contrive  to  have  you  meet  Westall  (the 
younger),  a  man  much  to  my  liking,  who,  I  hope,  will 
take  up  his  abode  at  Keswick. 

My  book  sleeps  till  the  *'  Review  "  arrives  ;  mean- 
time I  am  busy  upon  the  "  Morte  Darthur  "  (which 
brought  sweet  remuneration),  and  upon  the  third  volume 
of  "Brazil,"  which  bringeth  something  sweeter  still, 
in  the  great  pleasure  which  I  take  in  it.  On  Tuesday 
next  I  go  with  Edith,  and  Shedaw,  and  Bertha  to 
Netherhall  for  a  week.  When  I  return,  it  will  be  with 
fresh  appetite  for  Liber  the  Book,  which  may  pro- 
perly be  called  Liber,  for  free  it  shall  be,  as  sure  as  I'm 
a  Dutchman.  My  brother  Mynheers  have  sent  me  no 
notification  of  the  undeserved  honour  ;  and  of  course 
it  appeareth  not  in  my  title-page,  but  such  notification 
shall  be  duly  recorded. 

1  have  written  a  chapter  concerning  the  pantaloons.* 
And  now  God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

*  See  "  The  Doctor,"  &c.,  Intercliapter  xx.  p.  489.,  one 
vol.  edit. 


1817.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  59 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedfordy  Esq. 

Feb.  22.  1817. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  must  go  twelve  miles  to  make  this  affidavit, 
and  of  course  cannot  do  so  till  Monday.  The  delay  is 
unlucky,  but  inevitable.  I  think  this  is  the  best  mode 
of  proceeding.  At  any  other  time  I  could  have  let  the 
thing  pass,  and  smiled  at  it.  Oh,  with  what  glee  I 
wrote  it ;  it  was  only  a  few  days'  work,  three  or  four  at 
the  utmost,  as  John  Bunyan  says, — 

"  It  came  from  mine  own  heart,  then  to  my  head, 
And  thence  into  my  fingers  trickeled  ; 
Thence  to  my  pen,  from  whence  immediately 
On  paper  I  did  dripple  it  daintily." 

And  this  is  an  exact  history  of  ray  "Wat  Tyler,"  whom 
I  used  in  those  days  to  call  my  uncle  Wat.  I  could 
6nd  in  my  heart  to  compose  a  drama  upon  the  same 
subject  now,  in  my  wiser  mind,  as  a  sort  of  penance, 
had  I  but  time.  It  is  a  rich  subject :  a  little  encourage- 
ment would  eg^  me  on,  and  the  inclination  will  perhaps 
keep  me  sleepless  in  bed  for  some  hours,  turning  and 
tossing  the  materials  in  my  mind.  Would  not  this 
make  a  curious  finish  to  the  story,  if  I  were  to  follow 
the  impulse,  and  actually  produce  such  an  historical 
drama  as  might  stand  beside  "  Roderick  "  ? 

Give  that  poor  fellow  a  farther  two  pounds  for  me 
some  little  time  hence,  if  you  cannot  help  him  in  any 
other  way. 

But  I  must  have  done,  for  the  spirit  moves  me, 
and  I  cannot  rest  till  I  have  looked  over  the  reign  of 
Richard  II.,  and  called  thoughts  to  counsel  upon  the 


60  LETTERS   OF  18ir. 

new  scheme.      If   I  had  my  old  flux  of   the  muse,   it 
might  soon  be  done. 

God  bless  you. 

U.S. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Feb.  23,  1817. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

The  affidavit  arrived  on  Saturday,  and  I  must 
go  to  Cockermouth  to  swear  to  it,  so  that  it  cannot  be 
returned  till  to-morrow's  post.  The  enclosed  will  tell 
you  my  brother's  opinion  ;  he  has  more  knowledge  of 
the  world  than  most  men,  and  I  should  willingly  assent 
to  his  advice,  were  it  not  highly  probable  that  the  pub- 
lishers will  force  me  to  come  forward  at  last,  by  putting 
my  name  in  the  advertisement,  as  they  did  in  a  para- 
graph in  the  "  Morning  Chronicle."  Therefore,  I  think 
it  is  better  to  act  at  once ;  and,  indeed,  in  all  cases,  the 
manliest  course  is  the  best.  But  it  rather  staggers  me 
that  both  Turner  and  Rickman  incline  to  Harry's  way 
of  thinking.  If  you  should  alter  yours,  desire  Turner, 
by  a  note,  not  to  proceed.  I  think  you  will  remain  in 
the  same  mind,  and  in  that  belief  shall  send  up  the 
affidavit. 

How  much  could  I  say  to  you  upon  the  subject  of 
your  letter  ?  Muir's  and  Palmer's  cases  did  harm, 
because  both  parties  were  hardly  used.  They  had  not 
deserved  the  punishment,  especially  Palmer,  whose 
case  was  a  flagrant  act  of  injustice.  M.  was  justly 
sentenced,  but  there  was  an  appearance  of  wrong  in  not 
allowing  some  of  his  challenges.  Gilbert  Wakefield's 
book  was  not  addressed  to  the  mob.     I   think  there  is 


1817.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  61 

more  clanger,  if  transportation  were  made  the  punish- 
ment, that  it  would  prevent  convictions,  than  that  the 
power  would  be  abused.  But  what  else  will  stop  the 
evil?  And  if  the  evil  be  not  stopped,  ii  jacquerie  is 
inevitable.  Give  the  press  full  play,  and.  nothing  can 
prevent  the  Agrarians  from  raising  the  mob  upon  us. 
They  will  swallow  up  all  the  feebler  vermin,  as  the 
committee  tells  us  they  are  doing ;  and  as  for  stopping 
them  by  force  of  reason,  you  might  as  well  reason 
against  a  steam-engine,  or  one  of  our  mountain  floods. 
I  groan  over  the  cowardice  of  the  Ministry.  Every 
concession  will  only  provoke  insult,  contempt,  and 
farther  demands.  But  they  must  be  supported  :  the 
choice  is  between  them  and  Revolution  ;  and  therefore 
I  was  sorry  that  you  had  refused  to  be  on  the  Finance 
Committee.  Indeed,  this  is  no  time  for  doing  anything 
which  may  increase  their  discredit. 

If  I  were  not  too  closely  occupied,  I  would,  by  way 
of  penance,  gird  up  my  loins  and  take  the  subject  of 
"  Wat  Tyler "  for  an  historical  play,  in  which  to  put 
forth  all  the  powers  I  could  bring  to  bear  upon  the 
stoi'y.  Plot  is  excused  in  such  dramas,  if  interest  can  be 
excited  without  one  by  the  mere  march  of  events.  I 
meant  to  have  done  this  in  1797,  but  it  was  laid  aside. 
I  have  bought  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Rerum  Hiberni- 
carum  Scriptores,"  and  have  taken  a  great  fancy  to 
O'Connor,  notwithstanding  the  great  O  in  his  name. 
Some  of  the  parts  which  relate  to  your  uncle,  and  to  his 
own  situation  at  Stowe,  are  exceedingly  fine.  I  hope 
the  work  will  proceed  ;  it  is,  indeed,  a  munificent  ex- 
ample of  wisely  directed  patronage.  The  second  volume 
of  "  Brazil "  is  finished,  and  you  will  receive  it  in  a 
few  days.  I  am  busy  upon  the  third  ;  and  such  is  the 
course  of  my  life  at  present,  that  this  employment 
seems  like  playing  truant  from  closer  calls.  Murray 
offers   me   150/.  for  two  articles   in   each   number.     I 


62  LETTERS   OP  1817. 

want  tliis  money  from  the  next,  and  shall  earn  it  in  the 
course  of  six  weeks  :  the  subjects  are,  **  Mariner's 
Tonga  Islands"  (pray  read  the  book)  and  the  Reports 
of  the  Committee.  I  must  write  the  latter  part  of  this 
first,  and  leave  the  beginning  till  I  see  what  is  to  be 
done.  The  main  part  will  be  a  sketch  of  the  growth 
and  progress  of  political  discontent  in  this  country,  and 
the  means  of  abating  it.  I  shall  aim  at  a  conciliative 
and  persuasive  tone,  and  avoid  all  personalities,  while  I 
endeavour,  totis  virihus,  to  attack  that  spirit  of  party 
which  is  the  curse  and  the  oppi'obrium  of  England. 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  Wynn. 

li.  S. 


To  John  Hickman,  Esq. 

Keswick,  March  2.  1817. 

My  dear  Rickman, 

It  is  quite  impossible  that  I  can  find  time  for 
any  additional  engagements,  at  any  price  whatever 
which  might  be  held  out. 

The  sins  of  my  youth  are  risen  against  me.  Some 
rascal  has  just  published  a  piece  of  sedition  written  in 
1794,  and  peppered  like  a  turkey's  gizzard.  I  have 
written  to  Wynn  to  know  whether  it  be  better  to 
obtain  an  injunction,  or  let  the  brimstone  burn  out ;  if 
he  advises  the  former,  Sharon  Turner  will  take  the 
necessary  steps.  The  MS.  was  put  into  Ridgeway's 
hands  twenty-three  years  ago. 

My  "  Papcl  Forte  "  has  been  converted  by  the  hand 
of  GifFord  into  a  Papel  Fraco  {fiaccus  fiaccidus).  He 
has,  with  more  than  his  wonted  skill,  pruned  out  every- 
thing of  practical  application,  everything  original,  and 


1817.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  63 

everything  that  was  most  forcibly  expressed  ;  in  pity^  as 
he  says,  to  the  terrors  of  Ministers  !! ! 

I  shall  see  you  in  April,  and  mean,  God  willing,  to 
see  Switzerland  and  the  Rhine  in  May  and  June,  and 
be  home  the  first  week  in  July,  and  ready  for  you  in 
August. 

Remember  me  to  Mrs.  R.     God  bless  you. 

Robert  Southey. 


To  a  W.  W.  WTjnn,  Esq. 

Keswick,  March  10,  1817. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  am  sorry  your  bill  was  lost,  and  a  little  vexed, 
because  with  a  little  zeal  on  the  part  of  those  who  ap- 
proved it,  it  might  have  been  carried.  This,  however, 
is  one  of  those  reforms  which  is  sure  to  be  effected  if 
you  persevere  in  bringing  it  forward.  Our  neighbours 
in  Westmoreland  are  already  enjoying  in  rehearsal  the 
blessings  of  a  contested  election.  One  of  the  best  men 
in  the  county  has  been  nearly  killed  by  the  Brougham 
mob,  and  spits  blood  in  consequence  of  the  injury 
which  he  received.  Brougham's  probability  of  success 
arises  from  a  cause  which  has  been  widely  operating 
over  the  whole  of  the  kingdom, — the  great  multiplication 
of  freeholders  by  the  enclosures,  forty  shilling  voters, 
good  part  of  whom  are  in  that  hopeful  state  that  they 
would  vote  for  Hone  or  Cobbett  against  Brougham,  for 
the  same  reason  which  will  make  them  vote  for  Brougham 
against  Lowther.  I  am  out  of  the  circle  of  these  petty 
politics,  and  should  regard  them  with  perfect  indiffer- 
ence, if  every  symptom  of  the  times  did  not  indicate  the 


64  LETTERS    OF  1817. 

same  disease.     Nevertheless,  I  think  the  aspects  on  the 
whole  are  improving. 

Is  the  publication  of  the  "  Irish  Historians"  to  be  con- 
tinued ?  If  it  be  not,  I  shall  look  upon  the  death  of 
the  Marquis  of  Buckingham  as  the  greatest  loss  that  has 
been  sustained  in  our  times.  If  it  were  completed  as  it 
is  begun,  it  would  vie  with  any  undertaking  of  the  kind. 
Ill  as  I  can  spare  the  time,  and  unfit  as  I  am  in  many 
respects  for  the  task,  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  give 
some  account  of  it  in  the  "  Quarterly  Review,"  merely 
for  the  sake  of  calling  the  public  attention  to  a  work  of 
such  importance,  and  which  is  sure  to  be  neglected 
without  some  such  help :  for  this  is  the  state  of  litera- 
ture among  us,  and  a  vile  state  it  is.  If  you  were 
Minister  I  should  be  laying  plans  before  you  for  national 
collections  of  this  kind,  and  other  works,  which  never 
can  be  performed  without  public  assistance.  In  these 
things  we  are  behindhand  even  with  the  Spaniards  and 
Portuguese. 

You  would  be  amused  to  see  my  table  overlaid  with 
Methodism  and  Moravianism.  I  am  going  through  the 
whole  set  of  the  "  Arminian  Magazine."  Tliis  life  of 
Wesley  is  a  more  operose  business  than  one  who  is  not 
acquainted  with  my  habits  would  suppose.  I  am  given 
to  works  of  supererogation,  and  could  do  nothing  to  my 
own  satisfaction  if  I  did  not  take  twice  as  much  labour 
as  any  other  person  would  bestow  upon  it.  In  this  case 
it  will  be  well  bestowed.  1  am  treating  of  a  curious 
part  of  history  just  at  the  right  time,  and  in  as  fair  a 
temper  as  it  could  be  possible  to  bring  to  such  a  sub- 
ject. The  materials  are  very  copious,  and  very  curious, 
and  the  plan  so  arranged  as  to  relieve  that  monotony 
which  you  might  perhaps  apprehend. 

I  had  a  letter  lately  from  Sir  H.  Bunbury,  inviting 
me  to  Suffolk  to  look  over  his  papers  about  the  war. 
This  invitation  I  must  accept,  not  as  a  matter  of  incli- 


1817.  IIOBEIIT   SOUTIIEY.  65 

nation,  but  of  duty  in  my  vocation  ;  so  most  probably  if 
he  can  receive  me  at  the  fall  of  the  leaf,  I  shall  then 
move  from  home.  His  materials  will  relate  to  the  latter 
years  of  the  war.  I  wait  for  a  French  book,  which 
contains  the  details  and  official  papers  concerning  the 
imperial  system  of  education.  When  this  comes  I  shall 
finish  the  introductory  chapter,  and  go  to  press.  The 
introduction  describes  the  moral  and  political  state  of 
the  Peninsula,  France,  and  England. 

I  see  no  person  during  the  winter  except  my  own 
family,  and  for  weeks  together  do  not  stir  beyond  my 
own  garden ;  the  kitchen  clock  is  not  more  regular  in 
its  movements  than  my  life,  and  scarcely  more  monoto- 
nous, yet  time  never  appeared  to  glide  so  swiftly.  I 
have  often  said  that,  live  as  long  as  we  may,  the  first 
twenty  years  of  life  are  the  longest  half.  There  are  in- 
dications enough  that  I  am  on  the  downhill  road;  an 
unwillingness  to  exertion  of  any  kind  is  one,  I  fear  that 
a  decay  of  sight  is  another ;  as  yet,  however,  it  only  re- 
gards distant  objects  ;  what  is  near  I  see  as  distinctly  as 
ever.     God  bless  you,  my  dear  Wynn. 

lii.  S. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  March  22.  1817. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

The  matter  has  been  carried  against  me  by 
direct  perjury.  Winterbottom  I  saw  with  Ridgeway 
and  Symonds,  but  never  dreamt  of  him  (a  dissenting 
minister  *)  as  a  publisher,  farther  than  as  he  was  con- 

*  "A   dissenting   minister    of  Pljmoutli." — MS.   letter  to  Dr. 
II.  II.  Soidhei/,  25th  March,  1817. 

VOL.  III.  r 


66  LETTERS   OF  1817. 

nectecl  with  Symonds  in  his  own  hook  ahout  America. 
Daniel  Izaac  Eaton  I  never  saw  in  my  hfe, — if  I  had  it  is 
not  possihle  that  I  should  have  forgotten  so  notorious  a 
person.  It  runs  strongly  in  my  head  that  I  have  seen 
an  account  of  Winterhottom's  death  in  the  magazines; 
and  indeed  it  would  surprise  me  less  to  find  that  some 
villain  should  be  found  to  personate  him,  than  that  he 
should  thus  swear  to  what  he  knows  to  be  false.  How- 
ever, there  is  no  remedy. 

I  have  great  reason  to   complain  of  my  counsel,  ac- 
cording to  the  newspaper's  report,  for  humiliating  me. 
I  acknowledge  no  toickedness  in  *'  Wat  Tyler,"  and  feel 
no  shame  for  it,  for  it  was  written  in  the  sincerity  of 
my  heart  *  ;  and  if  this  were  not  expressed  in  one  of 
those  letters   to  William  Smith,  certainly  I  should  feel 
it  necessary  to  say  it  in  some  other  form  equally  public. 
The  wickedness  is  in   the  present  publication  ;  and  the 
Chancellor  ought  to  have  seen,   if  he  chose  to  believe 
the  story  of  the  gift  (which  is   absolutely  false),    that 
there  was  a  condition  on  the  receiver's  part  to  publish 
it,  and  that  if  anything  could  call  for  relief  in  a  Court 
of  Equity,  it  was  the  publication  of  such  a  work  after  an 
interval  of  three-and-twenty  years,  for  the  avowed  pur- 
poses  of  insulting   and  injuring   the  author.      But  the 
Chancellor  has  believed  the  statement  of  their  counsel, 
and  chooses  totally  to  disregard  the  statement  to  which 
1  have  sworn.      Ridgeway  and  Symonds  7iever  rejected 
the  book.     It  was  left  with  them  by  Lovcll,  and  when 
I  saw  them  they  said,  "  We  will  publish  it."     My  re- 
collection is  distinct.     But  it  is  time  to  have  done  with 
the  subject.     I  am  only  anxious  now  to  see  my  second 
letter  to  William  Smith  in  the  pajDcrs,  because  it  will 


*  See  the  preface  to  it  in  the  collected  edition  of  his  Poetical 
Works,  and  "  Life  and  Correspondence,"  vol.  iv.  p.  236. 


1817.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  67 

acquit  me   of  the  miserable    folly  imputed  to    me    in 
Shadwell's  speech. 

I  have  received  a  very  kind  letter  from  Wilberforce 
on  the  occasion.  There  was  an  article  in  Tuesday's 
"  Courier,"  by  Coleridge,  upon  the  subject. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  C.  W.  TV.  Wtjnn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  March  26.  1817. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  do  not  by  any  means  regret  the  application  to 
Chancery  :  it  was  the  straightforward  course  ;  and  the 
question  could  not  have  been  referred  to  a  Court  of 
Law  (being  so  plain  a  case)  if  a  false  defence  had  not 
been  set  up,  and  supported  by  perjury.  There  is  a 
strong  impression  upon  my  mind  that  Winterbottom  is 
dead  ;  and  it  is  much  less  improbable  to  me  that  a 
fellow  should  have  been  found  to  swear  falsely  in  his 
name,  than  that  he, — a  dissenting  minister, — a  man  who 
was  said  to  have  undergone  the  same  change  in  his 
opinions  as  I  have  done,  should  in  the  first  place  be 
guilty  of  so  base  an  act  as  to  publish  the  book,  and  then 
to  defend  the  act  by  a  direct  perjury.  My  magazines, 
in  which  it  appears  to  me  that  I  have  read  of  his  death, 
are  unluckily  forty  miles  off  at  the  binder's.  But  I  have 
taken  measures  for  ascertaining  this  matter  ;  and  if  it 
should  prove  that  my  suspicions  are  well  founded,  the 
transaction  will  assume  a  very  different  aspect  from 
what  it  now  wears.  Luckily,  I  have  the  rough  draft  of 
my  first  letter,  and  shall  therefore  throw  them  both  into 

F    2 


68  LETTERS   OF  1817. 

one  :  but  this  I  will  delay  till   I   have  satisfied  myself 
about  Winterbottom. 

A  word  or  two  about  my  intolerance.  I  recollect  but 
two  persons  of  whom  I  have  spoken  with  acrimony  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  word.  Whitbread  in  the  "Regis- 
ter," and  Joseph  Lancaster.  In  the  first  case,  I  was 
treating  of  a  leading  politician,  whose  opinions  would 
have  laid  this  country  at  Bonaparte's  mercy.  As  for 
my  allusions  to  the  *'  Edinburgh  Review,"  it  would 
surprise  me  much  if  I  were  censured  for  speaking  as  I 
think  upon  that  subject,  abstaining,  as  I  have  uniformly 
done,  from  anything  in  the  way  of  personal  defence 
during  fifteen  years  of  continual  attack  on  their  part. 
In  the  article  which  William  Smith  pulled  out  of  his 
pocket,  I  have  called  Hunt  an  incendiary  for  one  of  the 
wickedest  paragraphs  that  ever  was  written  ;  and  I  have 
bestowed  the  same  appellation  upon  Cobbett.  Can  any 
man  in  his  senses  think  these  misapplied?  And  for  the 
passage  which  William  Smith  read  (p.  227.),  it  neither 
names  any  individual,  nor  alludes  to  any,  but  deals  in 
generals,  relating  to  those  metaphysicians  who  begin  hy 
denying  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong.  Of 
such  men  as  myself  there  is  plain  mention  (p.  2S7.),  and 
so  far  have  I  been  from  having  ever  sought  to  put  my 
former  opinions  in  the  shade,  that  they  are  placed  in 
broad  daylight  in  the  "  Pilgrimage  to  Waterloo  ;  "  nor 
have  I  ever  cancelled  a  line  in  my  early  poems  on  this 
account.  Tliey  who  blame  me  for  intolerance  should 
remember  the  abuse  which  has  been  incessantly  poured 
upon  me. 

Wilberforce  wrote  me  a  very  handsome  letter  upon 
William  Smith's  conduct,  saying  that  he  felt  as  if  he 
liad  to  clear  his  own  character  from  a  stain,  till  he 
assured  me  that  he  was  not  in  the  house  at  the  time. 

It  will  be  unfortunate  if  I  shall  miss  you  on  my 
transit.     I   shall    be   in    London   (God  willing)  on   the 


1817.  ROBERT   SOUTUEY.  69 

17th,  pass  a  week  with  my  uncle  in  Ilampsliirc,  and 
leave  London  for  the  Continent,  if  possible,  on  the  1st 
of  May.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.  P. 

Easter-Sunday,  April  6.  1817. 

Where,  my  dear  Wynn,  are  the  proofs  of  this  in- 
tolerance of  which  you  speak?  I  know  not  towards  whom 
I  have  been  intolerant,  except  it  be  Bonaparte  ;  and  I 
believe  he  does  not  come  within  the  field  of  your  tole- 
ration. The  language  of  the  "  Edinburgh  Register," 
while  it  was  in  my  hands,  is  that  of  a  man  who  felt 
strongly  and  spoke  plainly,  but  who  made  no  difference 
between  Trojan  and  Tyrian.  In  the  "  Quarterly  '  I  have 
rarely  had  anything  to  do  with  politics,  except  in  the  two 
last  numbers  ;  and  the  man  who  censures  the  last  paper 
must  stand  up  for  Hunt  and  Cobbett.  You  probably 
know,  better  than  I  do  myself,  the  manner  in  which  I 
have  been  assailed  ever  since  I  was  made  Laureate.  Has 
the  intolerance  been  on  my  side  ?  This  affair  would 
not  have  affected  me  more  than  the  blowing  of  the 
wind,  if  it  had  not  made  my  wife  seriously  ill ;  and 
thus  it  has  vexed  me  so  much,  that  I  could  certainly 
have  challenged  William  Smith,  if  a  sense  of  duty  did 
not  withhold  me. 

I  have  been  greatly  harassed  and  interrupted  about 

the  house  which  I  inhabit ;  a  writ  is  issued  against  the 

estate,  and  it  will  be  sold  in  the  course  of  the  summer. 

I  would  fain  have  put  off  my  journey  in  consequence, 

but  I  did  not  like  to  disappoint  my  companions  ;  and, 

moreover,  change  of  air,  scenes,  and  circumstances  is 

i-  3 


70  LETTERS   OP  1817. 

almost  necessary  for  me.  I  have  not  recovered,  and 
never  shall  recover,  last  year's  affliction  ;  and  my  worldly 
IH'ospects  are  improving  when  I  have  no  longer  a  heart 
to  enjoy  them.  Were  it  not  for  these  children,  I 
should  wish  to  be  in  yonder  churchyard  ;  this  world 
has  nothing  to  give  me,  and  my  heart,  as  well  as  my 
hopes,  are  in  the  next. 

God  bless  you,  my  dear  Wynn. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

April  17.  1817. 

My  dear  G., 

In  the  course  of  this  business  I  have  very  often 
had  occasion  to  remember  the  apologue  of  the  old  man, 
his  son,  and  the  ass  :  for  by  listening  to  everybody,  I 
am  likely  to  please  nobody,  and  myself  least  of  all. 

Wynn  exhorts  me  most  earnestly  not  to  write  arro- 
gantly. Turner,  I  think,  would  not  have  me  write  at 
all  ;  and  perhaps  this  may  be  Rickman's  opinion ;  you 
and  the  Doxter  *  say  write,  and  Wordsworth  and  Sen- 
house  here  think  that  I  cannot  express  myself  too 
strongly. 

You  have  the  whole  now ;  and  if  you  and  your 
chancellors,  by  which  I  mean  Harry  and  Turner  (and 
Rickman,  if  you  please)  think  it  better  that  the  whole 
should  be  suppressed,  so  let  it  be.  My  anger  has  spent 
itself,  and  I  care  not  the  turn  of  a  straw.  If  on  the 
other  hand  you  wish  it  to  appear,  I  will  in  the  proof 
expunge  certain  passages  that  offend  Wynn's  sensitive- 

*  A  familiar  expression  in  these  letters,  applied  to  Dr.  H.  H. 
Sou they. 


1817.  ROBERT   SOUTKEY.  71 

ness.  I  will  smooth  clown  others  so  as  to  lessen  their 
asperity,  but  leave  the  whole  edge  ;  and  I  will  insert  a 
passage  about  public  expenditure  from  their  papers 
which  you  have  sent  me.  But  I  must  tell  you  that 
with  this  letter  I  close  the  business  on  my  part.  What- 
ever reply  may  be  attempted  to  it,  I  shall  say  nothing 
more.  I  will  waste  no  more  time  upon  an  affair  which 
did  not  from  the  beginning  deserve  from  me  the  sacrifice 
of  a  single  hour. 

The  best  answer  which  could  have  been  made  to  him, 
would  have  been  to  have  reprinted  certain  of  my  papers 
from  the  "  Quarterly  Review,"  together  with  certain 
excerpts  from  the  "  Register :  "or,  better  still,  if  I  had 
made  a  book,  as  was  my  first  intention,  instead  of  yield- 
ing to  Murray's  suggestion,  and  frittering  my  materials 
down  to  suit  the  purposes  of  his  journal.  After  all,  it 
is  of  little  consequence:  as  regards  myself  of  none,  and 
as  regards  the  country,  things  will  take  their  course  ;  the 
present  ulcers  will  heal :  the  disease  will  continue  in  the 
system.  We  shall  go  on  upon  a  system  of  expedients, 
living,  as  it  were,  from  hand  to  mouth  ;  to-day  with  the 
bug-bear  of  ruin  before  our  eyes,  to-morrow  in  a  hey-day 
of  prosperity ;  the  evil  may  be  indefinitely  delayed,  but 
sooner  or  later  come  it  must,  unless  adequate  remedies 
be  applied,  and  for  these  the  present  race  of  statesmen 
want  either  the  courage  or  the  power,  or  both. 

After  Saturday  next  direct  to  Warcop  Hall,  near 
Brough,  whither  I  go  on  Monday  (this  day  week). 

Harry  will  perhaps  have  told  you  that  I  have  been 
disturbed  about  this  house,  and  am  under  the  strange 
temptation  of  buying  the  estate,  without  having  a  shilling 
to  pay  for  it.  All  this  when  w^e  meet,  which  I  trust 
will  be  on  the  24th.  I  hope  the  journey  will  do  me 
good,  for  I  stand  in  need  of  change  of  air,  place,  and 
circumstance. 

May   I  be  allowed  a  drab  to  travel  in?   And  if  not, 

F  4 


r2  LETTERS    OF  1817. 

what  kind  of  lic/ht  coat  will  Hyde*  permit  me  to  wear? 
This  is  one  of  the  first  points  to  be  determined  on  my 
arrival.     God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


To  JVade  Browne,  Esq.,  Ludlow. 

Keswick,  Nov.  4.  1817. 

My  dear  Sir, 

After  a  long  jojj,rney,  and  a  succession  of  com- 
pany since  my  return,  I  am  at  last  quietly  settled  to  my 
winter's  work,  with  the  probability  of  as  few  interrup- 
tions from  without,  as  Bruin  has  when  he  rolls  himself 
up  in  his  cave,  and  trusts  to  his  paws  till  the  spring. 
You  probably  heard  of  my  travels.  My  companions 
were  Mr.  Senhouse  of  Netherhall  (near  Maryport),  and 
Mr.  Nash,  the  artist  who  was  with  me  at  Waterloo. 
Switzerland  and  the  Alps  were  our  object.  We  staid 
five  days  at  Paris,  and  then  proceeded  by  way  of  Dijon 
and  Besan^on  to  Neufchatel,  meaning  to  have  crossed 
Mount  St.  Gothard,  and  to  have  returned  into  Switzer- 
land by  the  Simplon  ;  but  finding  that  this  pass  was 
not  practicable  for  a  carriage  without  taking  it  to  pieces, 
which  involves  a  heavy  expense,  and,  moreover,  that  it 
was  by  no  means  advisable  to  enter  upon  it  so  early  in 
the  year  as  the  beginning  of  June,  when  the  season  also 
happened  to  be  remarkably  backward,  we  changed  our 
route,  and,  visiting  the  Grande  Chartreuse  on  the  way, 
entered  Italy  by  way  of  Mount  Cenis.  This  deviation 
from  our  first  purposed  course,  I  regard  as  very  fortu- 

*  This  is  that  same  Hyde  the  tailor  from  whom  Horace  Bedford 
never  could  get  a  drah.     "  He  could  not  carry  it  off,"  he  said. 


1817.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  73 

nate :  for  we  saw  notliinti;  finer  than  the  Chartreuse : 
indeed,  in  its  kind  it  cannot  be  surpassed:  and  the 
Mount  Ccnis  road,  of"  which  it  has  not  been  the  fasliion 
to  say  anything,  is  much  more  strange  and  impressive 
than  the  Simplon.  As  you  advance  up  the  valley  of  the 
Maurienne,  the  Alps  around  are  crumbling  to  pieces : 
the  Arc,  which  rushes  down  the  valley  with  a  force  and 
fury  beyond  anything  which  I  had  ever  witnessed,  carries 
with  it  nearly  as  much  earth,  or  rather  decomposed 
stone,  as  water;  and  the  towns  and  villages  on  the  way 
are  as  ragged  as  the  scenery  about  them.  On  the  sum- 
mit of  Mount  Cenis,  where  we  breakfasted,  I  could  have 
fancied  myself  in  Cumberland,  had  not  richer  flowers 
been  under  my  feet  than  our  climate  will  produce. 
There  is  a  turn  opposite  the  inn,  with  all  the  features 
of  our  own  mountain  scenery.  The  first  part  of  the 
descent  is  more  ruinous  than  anything  on  the  Savoy 
side.  Indeed,  the  mountains  are 'in  so  crumbling  a 
state,  that  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  abandon  the 
new  line  of  road  (only  a  year  or  two  since  it  was  made 
at  enormous  expense),  and  follow  the  old  line,  and  this 
line  leads  you  four  times  over  the  same  waterfall ;  one 
turn  is  as  closely  under  another  as  it  can  possibly  be 
made.  But  when  you  get  beyond  this  desolation,  where 
you  have  nothing  but  masses  of  loose  earth  and  perish- 
ing stone  on  every  side,  the  descent  into  Piedmont  is 
beyond  description  delightful.  We  went  no  farther 
than  Milan  ;  from  thence  to  the  Lakes  of  Como  and 
Lugano,  then  across  the  Lago  Maggiore,  and  back  by 
the  Simplon  into  Switzerland,  turning  aside  on  the  way 
for  three  days  to  visit  the  vale  of  Chamounix,  and  the 
Mer  de  Glace. 

My  uncle's  brother-in-law  happened  to  be  residing 
with  his  family  not  far  from  Lausanne  :  this  was  a  very 
agreeable  circumstance,  and  we  halted  with  him  two 
nights  on  our  way  out,  and  four  on  our  return.   Having 


74  LETTERS   OF  1817. 

reached  Bern,  we  sent  the  carriage  on  to  Zurich,  and 
struck  into  what  is  called  the  Oberland,  making  our  way 
as  we  could,  sometimes  by  land,  and  sometimes  by  water, 
on  horseback  or  on  foot.  Thus  we  spent  the  most  ad- 
venturous ten  days  of  our  journey,  and  the  most  delight- 
ful. From  Zurich  our  way  was  to  Schaff  hausen  and  Do- 
naueschingen,  where  the  Danube  rises  :  thence  through 
the  Black  Forest  to  Friburg  in  the  Bi'isgau.  We 
crossed  the  Rhine  to  look  at  Strasburg,  and  returned  the 
same  night  into  Germany  ;  and  so  by  way  of  Heidelberg, 
Manheim,  and  Frankfort,  to  Mentz  ;  then  down  the  left 
bank  to  Cologne,  and  so  to  Brussels,  Lisle,  and  Calais. 
The  whole  journey  was  the  work  of  thirteen  weeks, 
about  three  of  which  we  were  stationary  at  different 
places.  I  made  a  copious  journal  *,  which  was  no  slight 
exertion,  and  my  companions  were  very  diligent  with 
the  pencil ;  so  that  few  persons  could  have  brought 
back  more. 

I  returned  of  a  rich  sun  colour,  and,  according  to  all 
my  friends,  with  more  flesh  upon  my  bones  than  I  took 
out ;  though  I  am  sure  that  such  a  journey  performed 
in  such  a  manner,  would  be  an  excellent  recipe  for  one 
who  had  some  to  spare.  Certain  it  is  that  the  continual 
exercise,  change  of  air,  and  excitement  agreed  ad- 
mirably with  me,  to  say  nothing  of  the  wine,  which 
everywhere  about  the  Rhine  is  the  true  Amreeta,  and 
deserves  to  be  called  the  "Liquor  of  Life," 
Believe  me,  my  dear  Sir, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Robert  Southey. 


*  This  journal  is  also  before  me  ;  and,  as  I  hinted  in  vol.  ii.  p. 
429.,  I  should  advise  its  being  published  as  a  Supplement  to  the 
"  Common  Place  Books." 


1817.  EGBERT    SOUTIIEY.  75 

To  John  Kenyon,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Nov.  17.  1817. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  am  truly  obliged  to  you  for  the  trouble  you 
have  taken  in  procuring  for  me  my  old  friend,  Martin 
DobrizhofTer,  of  whom  I  have  been  ten  years  vainly  in 
search.  It  will  come  in  excellent  time,  just  when  I 
shall  be  composing  a  chapter  upon  the  "  Equestrian 
Tribes,"  the  chief  materials  for  which  are  taken  from 
this  Jesuit,  the  most  entertaining  and  most  interesting 
of  all  the  missionary  writers.  The  last  volume  of  my 
history  is  now  in  the  press,  and  from  this  time  forward, 
it  will  form  part  of  every  day's  business,  till  I  shall 
have  completed  this  laborious  work.  Our  journey  was 
prosperous  in  all  points,  without  any  accident  of  any 
kind,  or  any  apparent  delay.  In  the  Val  de  Triens,  I 
found  your  name  written  in  pencil  on  the  wainscot  of 
the  little  cabin  in  which  travellers  are  entertained ;  im- 
mediately under  it  I  pencilled  my  own  and  those  of 
my  companions  :  and  if  any  person  finds  as  much 
pleasure  in  seeing  this  memorial,  as  I  did  in  seeing 
yours,  it  may  be  reckoned  among  my  successful  wri- 
tings. We  entered  Switzerland  by  Pontarlier  and 
Neufchatel,  from  thence  to  Lausanne,  finding  it  too 
early  to  cross  St.  Gothard  ;  then  to  Geneva,  and  turn- 
ing aside  from  Chamberry  to  visit  the  Chartreuse  (one 
of  the  finest  objects  in  our  route),  proceeded  by 
Mount  Cenis  to  Turin  and  Milan.  This  was  our  far- 
thest point.  We  were  three  days  at  Como,  but  went 
no  higher  than  the  fork  of  the  lake  at  Bellaggio,  which 
must  certainly  be  the  finest  of  all  lake  stations.  Yet 
as  a  lake,  Lugano  may  perhaps  be  preferred  to  Como; 
and  the  Maggiore,  where  we  crossed  from  Laveno, 
is  equal  to  either.     We  returned  to  Switzerland  by  the 


76  LETTERS   OF  1817: 

Simplon  :  magnificent  as  it  is,  it  impressed  me  on  the 
whole  not  so  much  as  the  pass  of  Mount  Cenis,  which 
nobody  speaks  of.  Chamounix  we  took  from  Martigny, 
going  and  returning  by  the  Tete  Noir.  The  Col  de 
Balm  was  not  passable,  and  we  returned  to  Martigny 
because  we  were  bound  to  Echichens,  near  Merges, 
where  I  had  some-  friends  to  visit.  We  halted  with 
them  three  days  —  a  very  pleasant  resting-place, —  then 
made  for  Berne,  and,  sending  our  carriage  from  that 
city  to  Zurich,  struck  into  the  Oberland,  where,  at 
Unterseen,  Hans  Roth  was  added  to  our  company.  On 
our  way  home,  we  went  a  step  out  of  the  road  to  see 
the  Danube  at  Donaueschingen,  then  through  the  Black 
Forest  to  Friburg ;  looked  at  Strasburg,  and  returned 
the  same  day  to  Kohl ;  went  into  the  dungeons  of  the 
Secret  Tribunal  at  Baden-Baden,  and  shuddered  at 
seeing  the  doors  of  solid  stone  a  foot  in  thickness  ; 
Rastadt,  Carlsruhe,  Heidelberg,  Manheim,  Frankfort, 
Mentz,  Cologne,  and  so  by  Brussels  and  Lisle  to  Calais. 
In  Hans'  book,  wherein  my  doggerel*  was  written,  were 

*  "A  guide  offered  himself,  and  produced  his  book  of  recom- 
mendations, —  Jean  Roth  his  name,  and  Blomfield  among  his  re- 
commenders."  —  MS.  Journal. 

The  doggerel  is  not  inserted  in  the  Journal.  I  copy  it  from 
Mrs.  Warter's  Album  : — 

"  Written  for  Hans  Roth,  an  Unterseen  Guide,  who  conducted  Mr. 
Southey  and  his  Companions  on  a  Ten  Days'  Expedition. 

"  Hans  Roth,  by  my  troth, 

Is  an  excellent  guide  ; 

A  joker,  a  smoker, 

A  6f;avan  beside ; 

A  geologician, 

A  metaphysician, 
To  search  out  how  causes  proceed. 

A  system  inventor, 

And  an  experlmentor. 
Who  raises  i)otatoes  from  seed. 


1817.  ROBERT    SOUTUEY.  77 

some  Latin  verses  which  deserved  to  be  copied.  Very 
probably  they  came  from  Blomfiekl,  whose  name  was 
among  his  testimonials,  and  though  not  written  in  the 
same  hand,  certainly  they  are  of  English  growtli,  as  you 
will  perceive  : — 

HANS  LOQUITUR. 

"  Sum  Rothius,  parvai  dux  optimus  Untersenae, 
Quaque  lacus  inter  surgunt  mapalia  bines  : 
Seu  te  findentem  scopuloso  vertice  nubes 
Gotthardum  peragrare  placet,  seu  florea  mavis 
Regna  Rigi,  aut  fractum  pileato  culmine  monlem 
Omnia  lustrabis  Grail  cognominis  Alpcs 
Auspicio  ductuque  meo  :  fert  sive  dolores 
Dira  Siappoia,  aut  fessis  vko  ivocral  ■^(^tfiErXa, 
Non  ignarus  ero,  novi  quge  rupibus  altis 

Quajque  in  secretis  crescunt  convallibus  herboe " 

&c,  &c.  &c. 

Present  my  compliments  to  your  friend  Mr.  Ritchie, 
for  the  letter  which  he  forwarded  to  Geneva  for  me. 
The  ladies  below  stairs  have  desired  me  not  to  forfjet 
their  remembrances.  Here  is  Ormathwaite  to  be  let,  and 
Barrow,  and  the  house  which  in  your  time  was  called 
Mr.  Marshall's :  I  will  risk  the  one  which  you  may  like 

He  knoweth  right  well, 

The  forest  and  fell, 
The  Chalet  and  dwellers  therein  ; 

The  mountains,  tlie  fountains, 

The  ices,  the  prices, 
Every  town,  every  village  and  inn. 

Take  him  for  your  guide, 

He  has  often  been  tried, 
And  will  always  be  useful  when  needed  ; 

You'll  be  merry  together, 

Tn  foul  or  fair  weather, 
And  shake  hands  at  parting,  as  we  did. 

"  Robert  Soutijex." 


78  LETTERS    OP  1817. 

best  to  remain  vacant  till  you  have  finished  your  travels. 
Let  me  hear  from  you  sometimes,  and  fail  not  to  say 
\vhere  a  letter  may  find  you  upon  your  road.  The  Ge- 
neral is  on  the  Island,  enjoying  all  the  advantages  of 
solitude  and  retirement,  and  I  daresay  just  now  heartily 
disposed  to  join  in  the  complaint  of  the  lover  against 
space  and  time,  in  reference  to  the  limits  of  his  island, 
and  the  length  of  the  day.     God  bless  you. 

Yours  most  truly, 

Robert  Southey. 

P.  S.  I  am  sorry  it  should  be  reported  (though  no 
person  who  knows  either  me  or  my  manner  of  writing, 
can  believe  the  report)  that  I  am  the  reviewer  of  Lady 
Morgan's  book.  Her  opinions  are  bad  enough,  but  I 
would  rather  have  cut  off  my  right  hand  than  have 
written  anything  so  unmanly  and  disgraceful  as  that 
criticism. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.  P. 

Keswick,  Nov.  20.  1817. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Since  Bedford  left  me,  after  his  fraction  of  a 
visit,  I  have,  with  very  little  interruption,  kejit  close  to 
my  desk  ;  having,  Heaven  knows,  heavy  arrears  of 
business  upon  my  hands.  I  have  composed  a  paper  for 
the  "  Quarterly,"  upon  Lopez  de  Vega,  with  some  trans- 
lations, and  a  good  deal  of  curious  matter,  though 
perhaps  it  may  have  cost  me  more  time  than  it  is  worth. 
This,  however,  goes  to  Mammon's  account.  There  is 
nothing  else  of  mine  in  tlie  number.  I  am  thoroughly 
disgusted,  as  I  darcsav  vou  arc  also,  with  the  review  of 


1817.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  79 

Lady  Morgan's  book  :  I  would  rather  have  cut  off  my 
right  liand  than  have  written  anything  so  unmanly  and 
so  disgraceful ;  and  yet  there  are  people  who  impute  it 
to  me,  perhaps  as  much  from  stupidity  as  malice. 
This  is  the  end  of  reviewing,  hut  the  evil  must  be  taken 
with  the  good,  in  this,  as  in  all  things. 

I  am  preparing  to  write  upon  the  Report  of  the 
Poor  Committee,  and  have  prepared  myself  for  it  by 
good  counsel.  The  Report  is  exceedingly  able,  so  also 
is  Davison's  pamphlet,  though  the  scheme  with  which 
it  concludes  is  very  objectionable.  He  would  abolish 
the  poor  rates  at  the  end  of  ten  years,  giving  notice 
now,  and  making  the  abolition  all  at  once.  There  is,  I 
think,  great  reason  to  apprehend  that  whatever  is  done 
for  getting  rid  of  this  cancer,  will  be  made  a  handle  by 
the  Cobbetts,  Hunts,  &c.,  and  perhaps  it  will  not  be 
done  without  some  partial  riots ;  but  to  do  it  at  once, 
would  ensure  a  general  insurrection.  A  better  plan 
is  to  limit  the  assessment  and  lessen  it  gradually,  eveiy 
year  a  tenth  less  than  the  last  for  ten  years ;  this  would 
leave,  at  the  end  of  that  time,  about  one  third  of  the 
present  assessment;  and  then  the  fitness  of  a  farther 
reduction  might  be  considered.  But  I  have  a  good  deal 
to  say  upon  this  subject,  and,  I  hope,  to  good  effect. 
What  a  triumph  it  will  be  if  the  country  can  be  eased 
of  this  burthen,  which  otherwise  must  crush  it. 

We  were,  like  everybody  else,  much  shocked  at  the 
death  of  the  Princess,  and  the  more  so,  because  of  the 
temper  in  which  we  were  found  by  the  intelligence. 
It  so  happened  that  our  newspaper  did  not  arrive 
that  day.  When  I  went  down  to  tea,  young  Edith,  in 
the  gaiety  of  her  heart,  was  expressing  her  impatience 
to  know  the  event,  in  the  most  playful  and  fantastic 
way,  and  indulging;  in  this  the  more  because  of  the 
quiet  and  thoughtful  mood  in  which  I  came  from  my 
books.     While  I  was  smiling  at  her  extravagance,  and 


80  LETTERS   OF  1817. 

the  rest  of  the  family  were  laughing,  Dr.  Bell  came  in, 
who  was  then  lodging  in  the  town.  He  asked  if  we 
had  heard  the  news,  and  began  to  relate  it  in  a  lower 
tone  and  more  deliberate  manner  than  usual :  we  did 
not,  however,  apprehend  the  worst ;  his  voice  faltered 
in  a  slight  degree  when  he  came  to  it,  and  poor  Edith 
was  instantly  in  tears.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  dis- 
gusting stuff  in  the  "  Courier  "  upon  the  occasion.  It 
will  not  surprise  me  if  we  should  hear  ere  long  of  a 
divorce,  in  which  case  obsolete  laws  will  be  more  talked 
of  than  they  are  in  the  abominable  case  of  Thornton's. 

In  thinking  over  this  unlucky  event  with  a  view  to 
writing  anything  upon  the  subject,  I  have  almost  re- 
solved upon  writing  something  of  which  the  notion  is 
taken  from  Boethius.  Instead  of  his  Philosophia,  I 
shall  bring  in  Sir  Thomas  More,  and  make  the  occa- 
sion serve  to  introduce  a  view  of  the  present  circum- 
stances of  society  with  the  impending  changes,  as  com- 
pared with  the  time  of  the  Reformation.  If  I  do  this, 
I  shall  noi  do  it  heartily ;  but  I  am  disposed  to  like  the 
plan,  as  one  in  which  some  points  of  weighty  consider- 
ation might  be  brought  forward  with  much  propriety. 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  Wynn. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Nov.  26.  1817. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

It  is  so  long  since  I  have  written  to  you,  that 
you  will,  I  dare  say,  give  me  credit  for  having  been  very 
busy  the  while  ;  and  so,  in  truth,  I  have  been,  though 


1817.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  81 

not  in  the  way  Murraymagne  would  wish,  or  that  you, 
perhaps,  expect ;  for  I  have  not  been  at  work  for  the 
next  "  Q,  R.,"  nor  have  I  yet  attempted  lo  write  ex 
officio  upon  the  dismal  occasion  which  has  put  us  all  in 
mourning ;  —  the  only  occasion,  perhaps,  in  which  a 
public  mourning  ever  carried  with  it  so  real  a  sense  of 
sorrow.  As  soon  as  you  left  us,  I  finished  the  paper 
upon  Lopez  de  Vega,  of  which  merely  the  beginning 
was  written  before.  Then  I  set  steadily  to  work  upon 
the  "  Brazil,"  and  have  been  sedulously  employed  upon 
it  every  morning  from  that  time,  with  the  full  intention 
(unless  any  unforeseen  evil  should  prevent)  of  doing 
something  to  it  (however  little)  every  day,  till  it  is 
completed.  I  have  corrected  four  sheets,  and  hope  to 
keep  the  press  going  without  intermission;  the  better 
to  effect  this,  I  rise  as  soon  as  it  is  light,  and  transcribe 
before  breakfast.  In  the  evenings  I  have  paid  off  a  heavy 
score  of  epistolary  debts ;  and,  with  a  truant  disposition, 
as  if  I  had  nothing  to  consult  but  the  inclination  of  the 
hour,  have  taken  a  good  serious  spell  at  the  "  Life  of 
Wesley,"  which  bids  very  fair  to  be  a  singularly  curious 
book. 

I  would  very,  very  fain  be  excused  from  any  threno- 
dial  service,  farther  than  what  must  needs  be  prepared 
for  the  "  Mus.  Doc."  But  I  see,  from  one  or  two  pri- 
vate letters,  that  it  is  looked  for ,  and  it  is  no  use  to 
grumble  at  a  task  which  I  must  not  shrink  from.  In 
thinking  over  the  matter,  which  you  may  be  sure  I  have 
been  doing  (even  in  fact  at  the  time  when  I  would 
willingly  have  persuaded  myself  that  it  was  not  a  matter 
of  necessity  to  undertake  the  task),  a  notion  laid  strong 
hold  upon  me,  of  producing  something  in  distant  imi- 
tation of  Boethius.  In  which,  instead  of  his  Philoso- 
phia,  I  shoukl  introduce  Sir  Thomas  More  ;  and  pass 
from  the  ostensible  occasion  of  the  book,  by  an  easy 
transition,  to  a  view  of  the  prospect  before  us,  compared 

VOL.    111.  G 


82  LETTERS   01/  1817. 

with  tliG  State  of  things  at  the  Reformation.  An  ob- 
vious objection  to  this  is,  that  I  make  use  of  an  event 
which  ought  to  be  my  subject,  merely  as  an  introduc- 
tion to  something  else.  Perhaps  this  may  be  hand- 
somely obviated  by  frequently  recurring  to  it,  and 
bringing  it  again  prominently  forward  at  the  end.  You 
will,  perhaps,  hardly  comprehend  my  scheme,  unless  I 
open  it  a  little  more  fully.  There  would  be  a  mixture 
of  verse  as  in  Boethius ;  but  the  bulk  of  the  composi- 
tion in  prose,  and  in  colloquy,  between  Sir  T.  More 
and  Meipsum.  How  he,  of  all  persons,  should  think  of 
paying  Meipsum  a  visit  you  must  trust  to  me  to  explain ; 
but  you  will  at  once  perceive  that  no  fitter  personage 
could  be  introduced,  he  having  taken  pretty  much  the 
same  view  of  afflxirs  in  his  age  as  I  do  in  mine.  The 
tone  would,  of  course,  be  funereal,  relieved  by  such 
imaginative  parts  as  the  introduction  of  one  from  an- 
other world  would  produce ;  and  the  main  object  is  to 
show  that  we  are  rapidly  approaching  a  crisis  in  society 
(if,  indeed,  we  have  not  actually  reached  it),  as  critical 
as  that  which  the  restoration  of  letters  and  the  dis- 
covery of  printing  brought  with  them  in  the  days  of 
Sir  Thomas  More  :  the  extent  about  as  much  as  a 
long  paper  in  the  "  Review," — a  little  volume  from  150 
to  200  pages.  These  digressions  are  not  very  con- 
venient for  one  who  has  so  many  huge  undertakings  in 
hand,  and  has  to  provide  for  Muiraymagne  also.  I 
hojje  you  like  his  new  title. 

Oh,  my  books  !  my  books  !  Pray  ask  Colnaghi  if  he 
has  heard  anything  from  Discacciati  about  them ;  that 
if  not,  I  may  get  Landor  to  inquire  ;  and  if  the  larger 
consignment  from  Brussels  be  not  arrived,  I  must  write 
about  them  also. 

Your  pencils  shall  be  looked  after.  The  Grand 
Dormouse  returned  on  Monday  from  Senhouse's. 
Wordsworth  is  gone  to  London  on  business.      I   have 


1817.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  83 

not  heard  from  Sirius,  Heaven  knows  when ;  he  might 
as  well  be  in  his  own  star  for  anything  I  know  of  him. 
Pulcheria  is  in  great  favour,  and  sends  a  purr  to  Narses, 
her  countryman.  I  liave  put  on  my  leathern  jerkin  for 
tlie  first  time  to  day  ;  and  yesterday  I  dined  at  the 
Island,  which,  as  I  certainly  shall  not  have  another  in- 
vitation these  six  months,  may  perhaps  (and  how  pos- 
sibly ! )  be  the  last  time  I  shall  ever  dine  out.  And  the 
wind  is  blowing;  on  the  fells  it  is  snowing;  and  the 
torrents  are  flowing ;  and  the  women  are  sewing ;  and 
the  general  is  going;  and  the  oats  are  still  growing, 
(tliey  have  got  them  so  slow-in) ;  and  my  nose  wants 
blowing; — so  farewell,  Mr.  Bedford. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Dec.  17.  1817. 

My  dear  G., 

Your  letter  falls  in,  even  as  I  should  wish  it  to  do, 
with  my  own  inclinations.  Public  events,  as  you  well 
know,  are  things  upon  which,  ex  proprio  motu,  I  should 
never  write  a  single  verse,  having  a  proper  dislike  to 
such  subjects.  You  have  now  the  exercise-verses  for  the 
"  Mus.  Doc.  " :  and  so,  till  the  next  year's  pepper-corn 
rent  becomes  due,  if  I  live  so  long,  that  score  is  dis- 
charged. 

The  more  I  consider  the  matter  about  emancipating 
myself  from  any  engagement  which  subjects  me  to  the 
control  of  an  editor,  the  more  I  perceive  and  feel  the 
fitness  of  so  doing  ;  and,  regarding  it  as  I  ought  to  do, 
without  any  feeling  of  anger,  I  shall  consult  my  own 
perfect  convenience  in  the  matter,  and  leave  the  Mur- 

G  ?. 


84  LETTERS   OF  1817. 

raymaLjne  to  discover  that  I  find  other  modes  of  com- 
position more  agreeable,  if  not  more  profitable.  Tant 
mieux,  for  certain  works  which  have  been  too  long 
shoved  aside,  by  his  egregious  "Journal."  I  have  done 
a  little  of  late  to  the  *'  Tale  of  Paraguay,"  and  will 
complete  it  forthwith  for  publication  in  the  course  of 
the  season ;  and  when  this  is  done,  the  time  which 
would  have  been  otherwise  allotted  to  Reviews,  will 
suffice,  in  the  course  of  twelve  months,  to  carry  me 
through  "  Oliver  Newman."  I  can  calculate  upon  my- 
self for  these  things.  Certain,  indeed,  it  is,  that  re- 
viewing costs  me  full  thrice  the  time  that  any  other 
species  of  composition  does. 

As  for  political  affairs,  I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
them  now.  The  battle  has  been  won.  That  indeed 
was  a  cause  for  which,  had  it  been  needful,  I  would 
have  spent  something  more  precious  than  ink.  At 
home  there  is  an  appearance  of  security  for  some 
time  to  come,  and,  when  I  touch  upon  political  topics, 
it  will  be  with  a  wider  range  and  a  larger  view  than 
belongs  to  any  temporary  topics.  I  have  abundant  ma- 
terials marked  out  for  "  Espriella's  Second  Travels  ;  " 
and  this,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  pay  me  to  the  full  as 
well  in  money  as  the  "  Review  "  of  Albemarle  Street 
could  do,  and  far  better  in  reputation.  This  is  the  only 
vehicle  in  which  I  could  write  with  perfect  freedom : 
such  is  the  advantage  afforded  by  speaking  sometimes  in 
an  assumed  character,  sometimes  through  it,  and  leaving 
it  to  the  reader's  sagacity  to  discover  the  one  if  he 
can.  God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


1818.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  85 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jan.  6.  1818. 

My  dear  G., 

I  have  two  things  to  say  to  you,  which  would  be 
reason  enough  for  beguming  a  letter,  even  if  I  were  not 
rather  disposed  at  this  time  to  pen-gossip  with  your 
worship,  than  to  go  on  working. 

First,  then,  an  accident  (which,  though  it  would  not 
require  much  time  to  tell  it,  would  yet  take  up  rather 
too  much  to  be  told  just  now)  induces  me  to  resume 
my  *'  Inscriptions."  You,  I  believe,  did  not  much  like 
what  you  saw  of  them  ;  but  I  am  persuaded  that,  as 
pieces  of  composition,  they  will  more  completely  exhi- 
bit my  skill  as  an  artist,  than  any  other  of  ray  poems. 
Charles  Taylor,  whom  I  remember  at  Westminster, 
was  killed  at  Vimeiro.  I  knew  nothing  of  him,  and 
never  exchanged  a  word  with  him  ;  but  he  is  the  only 
Westminster  man  who  comes  in  my  way,  and  for  that 
reason  has  a  sort  of  double  claim  to  a  place  in  the 
series.  He  was  a  Reading  man, — -you  have  friends  at 
Reading, — can  you  by  their  means  learn  what  his  ser- 
vices had  been  ?  The  sepulchral  inscriptions  are,  of 
course,  epitaphs  ;  and  the  epitaph  should  be  a  brief 
notice  of  all  in  a  man's  life  which  is  worth  noticing  on 
his  monument.  My  intention  is  not  to  be  in  any  hurry 
with  these  poems,  but  to  correct  them  at  leisure,  as 
severely  as  possible,  and  print  them  after  the  "  History" 
is  published,  as  an  accompaniment,  in  the  same  form. 

Secondly,  I  learn  from  Westall,  that  his  brother  has 
a  great  desire  to  make  drawings  from  my  operas, — 
more  especially  from  my  "  Thalaba."  However  much 
I  might  like  this,  my  liking  can  be  of  no  avail,  and  the 
matter,  of  course,  must  rest  between  him  and  the  Longi 
Homines,  who,  I  suspect,  w  ill  be  like  deaf  adders.    They 

u  3 


86  LETTERS  OF  1818. 

will  object  that  the  poems  are  not  new,  and  have  no 
gi'eat  sale ;  and,  perhaps,  tlie  size  in  which  they  are 
printed  would  be  a  serious  objection  to  the  artist.  What 
tlio  Longi  Homines  should  do,  if  they  listened  to  him, 
should  be  to  print  an  edition  of  my  poetical  works  col- 
lectively in  octavo,  with  the  prints,  ad  libitum  ;  and  to 
have,  in  future,  the  separate  edition  of  each  in  a  smaller 
size,  and  without  notes,  so  as  to  get  into  circulation 
among  cheap  books  which  are  found  in  every  country 
shop, —  a  four-shilling  "  Roderick,"  for  instance.  This 
would  never  interfere  with  the  sale  of  the  costlier  form, 
and  would  get  into  circulation  when  even  the  current 
editions  cannot.  But  the  Longi  Homines  do  not  under- 
stand their  own  trade :  the  Grand  Murray  does.  Ne- 
vertheless, I  like  the  long  man  better  than  the  great 
man. 

Yet,  between  ourselves,  I  cannot  help  suspecting 
something  very  like  a  trick  about  the  sale  of  Moore's 
poem  ;  and  the  suspicion  is  not  a  comfortable  one.  A 
sixth  edition  of  *' Lalla  Rookh "  is  advertised  in  the 
course  of  eight  months.  "  Roderick,"  in  three  years, 
is  only  in  the  fourth.  Now,  I  am  perfectly  certain  it 
is  no  feeling  of  vanity  (and  you  know  how  I  feel  upon 
such  subjects  well  enough  to  believe  me)  which  makes 
me  think  there  cannot,  possibly,  have  been  this  differ- 
ence in  the  sale.  How,  then,  do  I  explain  the  fact  ? 
By  an  apprehension  tliat  there  is  a  ruse  de  guerre  in  it, 
—  a  stratagem  of  that  war  which  one  bookseller  carries 
on  against  another  :  that  if  I  were  to  ask  as  large  a 
sum  for  a  poem  as  Moore  has  obtained,  they  might 
reply  to  me,  "  There  is  not  the  same  sale  to  be  ex- 
pected." And  this  they  would  support  by  title-pages, 
putting,  probably,  the  name  of  a  new  edition  to  every 
500,  or  possibly  a  smaller  number  (for  *'  Lulla  Rookh" 
cannot  by  possibility  have  had  such  a  sale  as  is  pre- 
tended), while  the  first  edition  of  "  Roderick"  was  500 


1818.  ROBERT   SOUTnEY.  87 

only  at  a  time  ;  but  the  second,  1500  ;   the  third,  2000  ; 
and  the  fourth,  2000. 

You  will  do  me  a  service  if  you  will  get  from  tlio 
review-gelder  as  many  more  of  my  old  manuscripts  as 
you  can,  and  in  future  secure  from  him  a  set  of  proof- 
sheets  in  their  first  state  ;  because  the  paper  is  always 
printed  before  he  sets  about  the  work  of  emasculating 
it.  It  is  very  easy  for  him  to  have  an  additional  proof 
struck  off  in  that  state;  and  then  what  I  have  taken  the 
trouble  to  write,  and  he  is  obliging  enough  to  strike  out 
afterwards,  will  be  preserved  for  use  hereafter.  I  make 
as  large  allowances  as  can  be  required  for  the  manage- 
ment to  which  editor  and  publisher  may  feel  or  fancy 
themselves  bound,  but  the  striking  out  a  sentence,  or  a 
paragraph,  because  Mr.  Gifford  does  not  like  it,  and  the 
putting  in  one  of  his  words  or  phrases  when  he  happens 
not  to  like  one  of  mine,  has  the  effect  of  putting  my 
forbearance  to  the  proof.  Once  or  twice  I  have  written 
to  him  pretty  strongly  in  remonstrance  ;  then  he  flatters 
and  promises,  and  next  time  goes  to  work  again  like  a 
butcherly  review-gelder,  as  he  is. 

If  you  happen  to  see  Murray,  I  wish  you  would  say 
to  him  he  sent  me  in  liis  last  parcel,  '•  Le  Getiie  de  la 
Revolution,  consideree  dans  V Education^  in  two  volumes. 
It  promises  a  third,  which  was  to  include  all  that  related 
to  Bonaparte's  reign,  and  was  to  be  published  in  No- 
vember last.  This  third  volume  is  precisely  the  thing 
I  want  for  filling  up  the  picture  of  France  in  the  intro- 
ductory chapter  of  the  Peninsular  War,  and  the  sooner 
I  can  have  it  for  that  purpose  the  better,  for  I  really 
long  to  be  in  the  press.  You  can  tell  him  this  when 
you  chance  to  see  him,  which  will  be  better  than  my 
writing  just  now,  when  I  am  not  in  good  humour  with 
him — feeling  myself  scurvily  treated  about  the  last 
number,  in  more  respects  than  one.  But  I  do  not  mean 
to  give   the    slightest    intimation    of   this    displeasure, 

G    4 


88  LETTERS   OF  1818. 

either  to  him  or  the  gelder ;  for  however  much  they 
may  look  upon  me  as  their  tool,  I  shall  make  use  of 
them  as  mine. 

God    bless    you.      I  am  in  excellent  condition   for 
work. ; 

R.  S. 


To  John  RicJcmariy  Esq. 

March  27.  1818. 

My  dear  Rickman, 

I  have  said  something  upon  rogues  and  roguery 
in  a  paper  which  is  now  in  Gifford's  hands, —  upon  the 
fitness  of  mending  the  nets  of  the  law,  so  that  they  may 
not  escape  through  the  meshes  as  they  now  do ;  and  the 
general  question  I  have  left  for  further  discussion,  being 
fully  aware  of  the  whole  combination  against  existing 
institutions. 

The  next  paper  which  I  write  will  be  upon  the  state 
of  the  middle  class, —  the  excess  in  the  educated  classes 
rendering  emigration  as  necessary  as  bleeding  when  the 
habit  indicates  apoplexy  ;  the  condition  of  women  ;  and 
lastly  and  mainly,  the  abuse  of  the  press,  arising  in  a 
great  measure  from  this  overflow  of  educated  or  rather 
half  educated  men. 

Brougham  is  speechifying  through  the  villages  of 
Westmoreland ! ! 

Westall  sees  a  great  deal  of  talent  in  the  sketches 
from  **  Thalaba."  Wynn  has  taken  them  to  Murray, 
and  he,  I  understand,  likes  them  so  well  that  he  has 
written  to  the  artist  concerning  them. 

I  have  a  rich  arrival  of  my  books  from  Milan,  and 
am  in  a  happy  confusion  with  them. 


1818.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  89 

The  Capitf  .as  has  a  book  of  mine  concerning  the 
Isles  of  Chiloe.      Beg  him  to  send  it  to  Murray  for  me. 

Is  there  no  existing  law  by  which  these  Palace  Yard 
meetings  can  be  prevented.  Why  are  not  the  orators 
brought  to  trial  for  sedition  ?  or  rather,  why  is  not 
Fox's  absurd  bill  repealed,  and  the  law  of  libel  placed 
upon  its  proper  grounds  ?  Oh,  for  more  courage  where 
it  is  most  wanting  ! 

R.  S. 


To  John  Richnan,  Esq. 

Keswick,  May  9.  1818. 

My  dear  Rickman, 

Thank  you  for  your  note  upon  the  Ava*  leprosy. 
Kava  this  liquor  is  also  called,  and  it  is  not  a  little  re- 
markable that  the  same  preparation  with  the  same  name 
should  be  found  in  Chili  and  in  Brazil  also,  —  though  not, 
I  believe,  made  from  the  same  root.  What,  therefore, 
(the  thought  this  instant  occurs  to  me)  if  the  saliva 
should  be  the  cause  of  the  disease  ?  the  secretion  of  one 
human  body  taken  into  the  system  of  another  ?  as  the 
transfusion  of  healthy  blood,  and  the  transplanting  of  a 
sound  tooth,  have  been  known  to  prove  fatal.  There 
is  indeed  in  the  Kava  case  a  fermentation  which  must 
be  taken  into  the  account. 

I  have  heard  to-day  of  a  custom  remembered  in  Kes- 

*  "  The  name  of  Ava  is  given  to  the  root  of  the  intoxicating 
long  pepper  {Maa-opiper  methysticum)  which  is  chewed  either  in 
the  fresh  or  in  the  dried  state,  as  the  Indian  chews  his  maize."  — 
Johnson's  Chemistry  of  Common  Life,  vol.  i.  p.  310.  See  History 
of  Brazil,  vol.  iii.  p.  890.  notes. 


90  LETTERS   OP  1818. 

wick,  and  still  practised  in  Borrodale.  A  married  cou- 
ple, who  have  had  no  children,  after  a  certain  number 
of  years,  are  cowpclled  by  their  neighbours  to  give  what 
we  call  a  Fumbler's  Feast,  and  entertain  them  with 
sweet  butter,  caudle,  and  other  such  regalements  as  are 
produced  at  lying-in  visits,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
country.  This  they  do  sorely  against  the  grain,  the 
company  entertaining  themselves  at  their  expense  in 
every  sense  of  the  phrase. 

Such  a  feast  was  exacted  from  (or  inflicted  upon)  the 
couple  who  live  opposite  Miss  Barker's  house  last  week. 

R.  S. 


To  a   W.  Willianis  Wymi,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  June  7.  1818. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

1  thank  you  for  Dr.  O'Connor's  letter,  and  am 
very  glad  he  can  derive  any  pleasure  from  the  expres- 
sion of  the  high  value  which  I  set  upon  his  labours, — 
such  labours  having  very  little  to  remunerate  them, 
except  the  gratification  which  the  employment  itself 
affords.  Thank  you  also  for  the  reports  of  the  Copy- 
right Committee.  The  part  of  this  business  which  most 
concerns  me  is,  the  term  of  years  which  the  booksellers 
seem  willing  to  give  up.  Now  in  my  case  a  prolongation 
of  the  term  is  of  much  more  consequence  than  the  eleven 
copies,  for  my  books  make  their  way  slowly  ;  they  have 
a  steady  sale,  and  there  will  be  a  greater  demand  for 
them  in  the  first  three  or  four  years  after  my  death  than 
there  ever  has  been,  or  will  be,  in  the  same  length  of 
time  during  my  life.  But  the  greater  number  of  them 
will  then  have  become  common  property ;  and  the  only 


1818.  ROBEUT   SOUTIIEY.  91 

means  I  can  perceive  of  securing  any  advantage  from 
them  to  my  children,  is,  by  never  publishing  a  single 
improvement  in  any  of  them  as  long  as  I  live,  but  re- 
serving all  corrections,  alterations,  and  additions  for  a 
posthumous  edition. 

I  read  Lamb's  death  in  the  newspaper,  and  thought 
more  of  him,  poor  fellow,  in  consequence,  than  I  had 
done  for  the  last  four-and-twenty  years.  Do  you  re- 
member Bean,  who  was  in  the  remove  with  me  ?  He 
had  a  good  strong  head,  and  an  excellent  heart.  Two 
or  three  years  ago  I  called  at  his  brother's  to  inquire 
for  him,  and  learnt  that  he  was  soon  expected  home 
from  India,  to  settle  in  England  upon  the  money  wdiich 
he  had  saved  as  an  army  surgeon,  and  the  half  pay  to 
which  from  length  of  service  he  was  entitled.  Just 
about  that  time  he  was  murdered  by  some  Malay  boat- 
men, for  the  regimental  money  which  he  was  carrying 
to  one  of  the  East  Indian  islands.*  'Tis  a  melancholy 
thing  when  we  have  got  more  than  halfway  over  Mirza's 
bridge  to  look  about  us,  and  see  how  many  of  those  who 
set  out  with  us  on  the  passage  have  fallen  short  by  the 
way.  I  should  have  had  real  pleasure  in  meeting  again 
with  Bean ;  all  that  was  good  in  him  was  of  the  perma- 
nent kind.  He  had  travelled  widely,  and  would  have  come 
home  with  an  extensive  knowledge  of  men  and  things. 
Poor  Lamb,  on  the  contrary,  had  become  a  mere  idle 
heir  of  fortune,  and  not  having  his  estates  to  manage 
while  his  father  lived,  had  not  even  that  occupation  to 
keep  him  from  frivolities.  He  was  an  old  man  at  thirty, 
and  that  too  being  of  a  family  in  which  it  is  degeneracy 
to  die  at  an  age  short  of  fourscore.  •  Scarcely  a  week 
passes  in  which  I  do  not  dream  of  Westminster,  so 
strong  a  hold  have  those  years  upon  the  mind. 

You  franked  me  a  letter  some  time  ago  from  General 

*  See  Autobiography  in   "  Life  and  Correspondence,"  vol.  i.  p. 
156. 


92  LETTERS   OF  1818. 

Crauford,  which  has  led  to  a  correspondence  with  liim. 
He  has  sent  me  some  observations  upon  the  Spanisli 
war,  and  among  my  "Inscriptions"  which  I  have  finished 
was  an  epitapii  for  his  brother,  which  I  was  glad  to 
communicate  to  him.  I  have  written  no  poetry  for 
many  months,  nor  shall  I  have  leisure  for  any  this  year, 
unless  a  much  stronger  inclination  should  arise  for  it 
than  I  ever  expect  to  feel.  Before  I  set  out  for  London 
in  November  I  must  bring  forth  the  last  volume  of 
"Brazil,"  and  the  "Life  of  Wesley."  Of  the  former 
about  a  third  is  printed,  of  Wesley  the  sixth  sheet  (in 
octavo)  is  lying  on  my  table. 

I  may  tell  you  that  the  office  of  librarian  to  the  Ad- 
vocate Library,  at  Edinburgh,  was  offered  me  the  other 
day,  — 400/.  a  year,  with  the  prospect  of  an  increase, 
and  the  labour  of  forming  a  catalogue.  Few  persons 
would  dislike  such  labour  less,  but  I  am  better  em- 
ployed ;  I  do  not  love  great  cities ;  I  will  not  remove 
farther  from  my  friends  (being  already  too  far  from 
them),  and  having,  God  be  thanked,  no  pecuniary  anx- 
ieties, I  am  contented  where  lam,  and  as  I  am;  wanting 
nothing,  and  wishing  nothing.  God  bless  you,  my  dear 
Wynn. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford^  Esq. 

June  19.  1818. 

My  dkar  G., 

Thank  you  for  having  delivered  the  Saints  out 
of  Purgatory.  I  now  look  daily  to  hear  from  the  Grand 
Dormouse  that  he  has  seen  the  beatified  contents  of 
these  ponderous  cases,  after  which  they  will  soon  be 
on  their  way  to  Keswick. 


]818.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  93 

The  offer  respeccting  the  Advocates'  Library  did  not 
require  mucli  consideration,  coupled  as  it  was  with  tlie 
condition  of  making  a  catalogue, — an  immense  labour  for 
such  a  library,  if  it  were  performed  as  it  ought  to  be. 
If  it  had  come  without  any  such  condition,  it  would  have 
unsettled  me,  as  the  emolument  would  have  emanci- 
pated me  from  all  task-work  for  the  rest  of  my  life.  I 
have  half  a  mind  to  enclose  you  my  last  letter  from  the 
greatest  of  BibliopoleSj  that  you  may  form  by  it  some 
estimation  of  his  conceit,  which  is  as  unmeasurable  as 
the  heighth  and  depth  of  Seeva,  in  the  Hindoo  fable. 
If  you  were  to  see  the  manner  in  which  he  exhorts  me 
*'  to  put  my  whole  soul"  into  an  article  for  his  six  shil- 
ling "  Review,"  you  would  breathe  out  a  pious  male- 
diction upon  his  head,  and  cast  his  letter  behind  the 
fire.  Whosoever  may  compile  from  my  papers,  when  the 
booksellers  have  the  pickings  of  my  bones,  will  find  rare 
morsels  in  the  correspondence  of  this  great  man ! 

My  cold  is  in  its  seventh  or  eighth  week,  and  makes 
it  painful  to  read  aloud,  —  a  great  discomfort,  for  it  is 
my  custom  regularly  to  read  a  proof-sheet  in  this  man- 
ner tivice ;  and  this  last  polish  is  of  material  conse- 
quence, and  can  be  given  in  no  other  way.  The  eye 
can  do  little  without  the  ear. 

Mrs.  Peachey  has  sent  me  a  new  fashioned  lamp  for 
my  study,  with  a  ground-glass  hemisphere  —  a  hand- 
some affair,  but  I  suspect  less  convenient  than  my  soli- 
tary mould  candle,  which  can  be  carried  about,  is  at 
hand  to  seal  letters,  and,  moreover,  supplies  a  lip-salve, 
as  useful  and  much  less  offensive  than  any  which  comes 
from  the  shop.  I  cannot,  however,  try  this  present  till 
we  have  darkness  again.  Our  daylight  here  is  con- 
siderably longer  than  yours  in  London  at  this  season. 

Elmsley,  I  hear,  means  to  go  abroad  again  ;  and,  on 
his  return,  to  take  a  house  at  Oxford. 

In    the   reviewal    of  "  Evelyn's   Memoirs "   (part   of 


94  LETTERS   OF  1818. 


which  goes  to  the  grand  castrator  with  this  letter),  I 
have  given  Sir  Richard  Phillips  a  wipe  which  will 
amuse  you,  if  it  be  suffered  to  stand. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Richnan,  Esq. 

Keswick,  July,  1818. 

My  dear  Rickman, 

I  have  been  cheAving  the  cud  upon  your  letter. 
The  variety  of  my  employments  is  such  that  it  enables 
me,  at  any  time,  to  throw  aside  any  train  of  uncomfort- 
able thoughts  arising  from  the  ra  ov/c  icfi  y/xlv.  And 
in  the  case  of  the  Appleby  orator,  I  should  not  have 
thought  of  noticing  him,  had  it  not  appeared  a  fair  op- 
portunity of  doing  local  good  by  mauling  him  heartily. 
I  dare  say  you  may,  long  ere  this,  have  perceived  in  me 
a  promptness  to  act  with  decision,  which  sometimes 
amounts  to  temerity,  and  often  to  imprudence;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  a  good  portion  of  docility  in  submitting 
to  the  advice  of  those  whom  I  esteem  and  love.  I  may 
probably  send  up  another  portion  of  the  intended  let- 
ter, but  very  likely  it  will  not  go  beyond  your  hands 
and  Bedford's. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  I  thought  that  any  real  good 
were  to  be  done  by  a  full  representation  of  the  state  of 
tilings,  I  would  gird  up  my  loins  to  the  task.  How 
may  this  best  be  done  ?  In  an  anonymous  volume,  the 
secret  of  which  shall  rest  between  you  and  me,  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  other  persons,  or  in  the  character  of 
"Espriclla"?  which  has  a  greater  advantage  even  than 
tliat  of  concealment,  because  no  one  can  draw  the  line 


1818.  IIOBEIIT   SOUTHEY.  95 

between  what  is  said  in  tlie  personated  character,  and 
what  is  said  through  it. 

At  present,  talis  ornibus,  I  will  work  on  through  the 
oj)us  majus.  I  send  now  a  portion  of"  very  curious  mat- 
ter,—  some  of  it  collected  from  the  papers  which  I 
obtained  from  Coxe. 

My  great  consignment  of  the  Saints,  &;c.,  is  arrived, 
and  I  am  delightfully  busy  in  arranging  the  shelves. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Riclcman,  Esq.,  S^-c. 

Sept.  1.  1818. 
My  dear  R,, 

I  have  just  read  through  *'  Clarendon's  History 
of  the  Rebellion,"  and  the  result  has  been  rather  to 
strengthen  my  hope  in  the  conservative  principles  of 
society.  If  anything  could  induce  me  to  wish  the 
Whigs  in  power,  it  would  be  their  certain  interference 
with  the  press,  and  the  probability  of  their  undoing  the 
mischief  which  Fox  did  by  making  the  jury  in  cases  of 
libel  judges  of  the  law,  as  well  as  of  the  fact.  Yet  there 
has  been  as  much  fault  in  the  manner  of  enforcing  the 
law,  as  in  the  law  itself.  So  much  time  has  been  suf- 
fered to  elapse  between  the  commission  of  the  offence 
and  the  trial  (as  in  Hone's  case)  that  the  culprit  has  had 
full  leisure  to  get  up  a  theatrical  defence,  and  the  public 
feeling  of  indignation  has  been  worn  out,  and  subsided 
into  indifference. 

Thank  you  for  your  note  about  the  Jerboa.  I  had 
made  the  same  guess,  but  suppressed  it  because  of  the 
difficulty    of   explaining    how    the    Jerboa    should   get 


'J6  LETTERS    OF  1818. 

there;  being  neither  known  in  Europe  nor  in  America, 
nor  in  those  parts  of  Africa  from  whence  any  ship  at 
any  time  had  ever  touched  upon  the  Island.  However, 
as  your  first  thouj^ht  coincided  with  mine,  I  have  men- 
tioned the  likehhood  and  the  difRculty.  You  see,  I  am 
getting  on  well,  and  with  matter  which  will  be  almost 
as  new  to  the  Portuguese  themselves  as  to  the  English. 
This  chapter  will  be  a  very  curious  one  ;  and  the  fol- 
lowing one  relates  to  the  equestrian  tribes.  It  is  a 
great  pleasure  to  perceive  the  end  of  so  long  a  work 
fairly  in  view. 

Can  you  send  me  the  third  Police,  the  Prison, 
and  the  Endowed  School  Reports.  I  am  about  to 
write  upon  the  copyright  question  in  the  next  "Quar- 
terly ;"  and  also  (taking  the  new  churches  for  a  text), 
to  put  together  my  collectanea  concerning  the  disposal 
of  the  dead.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

P.  S.  My  brother  Tom  is  coming  at  Lady-day  to  re- 
side within  an  hour's  walk  of  me,  in  the  Vale  of  New- 
lands,  a  very  sweet  place,  where  he  has  taken  thirty 
acres  of  land.  This  removal  is  in  all  respects  desirable 
for  him  and  for  me,  and  will  at  least  double  the  quan- 
tum of  my  yearly  exercise. 


To  John  Hickman,  Esq.,  ^'C. 

Sept.  7.  1818. 

My  dear  R., 

I  send  the  enclosed  packet  unsealed,  that  if  you 
have  any  curiosity  for  such  things,  you  may  see  some  of 
John  Wesley's  epistles.     They  are  perfectly  worthless, 


1818.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  97 

except  the  last,  and  this  is  of  some  value,  because  it 
touches  upon  a  point  of  doctrine  whicli  he  preached 
very  rashly  during  many  years  of  his  life,  and  this  letter 
was  written  only  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  when  his 
hand  sliook  so  that  he  could  scarcely  write  intelligibly. 
The  others  are  not  the  less  characteristic  for  being  so 
entirely  empty.  By  such  missives  and  such  hrothering 
and  sistering  he  kept  up  his  influence  among  his  people. 
My  Life  of  this  extraordinary  man  will  be  a  very  curious 
book. 

We  have  entirely  escaped  the  drought  which  you 
seem  to  be  suffering  from  in  the  South.  Our  fields  are 
beautifully  green,  and  the  gardens  were  never  more 
productive. 

To-day  you  have  had  your  Palace  Yard  meeting:  bad 
as  juries  are,  I  cannot  think  there  could  be  any  difficulty 
in  convicting  Hunt  of  sedition,  because  the  jury  in  all 
likelihood  would  be  Burdettites,  and  therefore  disposed 
to  do  him  justice. 

Wilberforce  is  in  this  countrv,  and  will  soon  be  at 
Keswick.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  %c. 

Keswick,  Sept.  18.  1818, 

I  HAVE  just  turned  over  the  leaves  of  the  "  Acta 
Sanctorum:"  the  five  or  six  first  volumes  I  obtained 
many  years  ago  from  a  public  library,  and  made  good  uso 
of  them.  All  the  rest  are  new  to  me.  The  worthy  editors 
seem,  a  little  like  myself,  never  to  have  been  content 
with  the  enormous  work  which  they  had  undertaken  to 
perform,  but  upon    every  possible  opportunity  to  have 

VOL.  III.  U 


98  LETTERS   OF  1818. 

enlarged  it  by  some  gratuitous  labour.  Among  these 
supererogatory  works  is  a  very  curious  code  of  Majorca 
laws,  with  a  series  of  as  curious  engravings,  from  the 
MS.,  exhibiting  the  whole  household  of  the  King  of 
Majorca  in  their  costume  and  employments.  It  is  in- 
deed a  singularly  valuable  body  of  historical  and  anti- 
quarian research,  certainly  the  most  laborious  work  that 
has  ever  yet  been  produced  by  any  body  of  men.  My 
copy  is  a  very  fine  one.  The  bookseller  at  Brussels 
said  it  was  the  finest  he  had  ever  obtained.  It  belonged 
to  the  Franciscan  Recollets  at  Ghent.  I  shall  make 
great  use  of  it  in  due  time. 

"  Kehama"  and  "Roderick"  are  both  at  this  time  in 
the  press.  The  latter  has  done  great  things  for  me, — 
that  is  to  say,  it  has  set  me  on  the  right  side  of  Long- 
man's books.  Upon  the  whole,  it  has  brought  me  not 
less  than  700^.  It  will  take  probably  a  full  year's  sale 
before  the  new  edition  clears  its  expenses,  but  my  "  Life 
of  Wesley"  will  be  out  for  the  spring  sale,  and  I  hope 
that  will  supply  the  deficiency ;  and  whenever  I  can 
finish  my  tale  of  "  Paraguay,"  I  may  calculate  upon  im- 
mediately selling  an  edition  of  2000.  But  in  truth  I 
would  willingly  have  done  with  poetry,  and  confine  my- 
self to  those  subjects  for  which  I  possess  advantages  that 
are  not  likely  soon  to  meet  in  any  one  person. 

Wilberforce  is  expected  in  Keswick  to-day,  with  his 
wife  and  his  sons  and  his  daughters,  and  his  sons' 
friends,  and  his  daughters'  friends,  and  his  men  servants, 
and  his  maid  servants.  Sir  George  and  Lady  Beaumont 
are  here.  lie  knew  the  country  before  I  was  born,  and 
passed  a  summer  in  it  soon  after  his  marriage,  three-and- 
forty  years  ago  :  and  both  he  and  Lady  Beaumont  enjoy 
it  as  much  now  as  ever  they  did.  I  expect  a  guest  next 
week,  whom  perhaps  you  may  have  heard  the  Doctor 
niention  ;  his  name  is  Chauncey  Townsend,  a  youth  with 
every  imaginable  advantage  that  nature  and  fortune  can 


1818.  ROBERT   SOUTUEY  99 

bestow.  Old  Townsend,  the  traveller,  was  his  great 
uncle ;  from  him  he  has  acquired  a  taste  for  mineralogy, 
and  that  taste  will  take  me  some  tough  walks  among 
the  mountains. 

We  have  had  no  drought  in  the  North  ;  nothing  could, 
indeed,  be  more  favourable  than  our  weather,  or  finer  than 
our  harvest.  But  I  fear  you  will  suffer  dreadfully  in  the 
spring.  What  is  hecome  of  Blackstone,  that  he  has 
not  yet  made  his  appearance  ?  General  Peachey  is 
looking  out  for  him  also,  so  that  he  will  have  a  bed  if 
he  should  arrive  at  the  same  time  with  Chauncey 
Townsend. 

Lord  Lowther  drank  tea  with  us  last  week,  bringing 
over  Wordsworth  to  introduce  him,  for  I  had  never  seen 
him  before.  The  only  other  great  person  whom  I  have 
seen  was  the  Grand  Murray  himself,  on  his  way  to 
Edinburgh.  He,  I  believe,  is  the  very  grandest  person- 
age among  mankind,  now  that  there  is  no  longer  a 
Grand  Mo<rul.  There  ouscht  to  be  an  article  of  mine 
upon  Evelyn's  "  Journal "  in  his  next  number,  and 
another  upon  the  means  of  improving  the  people.  I 
am  about  to  write  upon  the  Copyright  Bill,  and  upon 
the  new  churches.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Jiickman,  Esq.,  8fc. 

■      October  5.  1818. 

My  dear  R., 

Wilberforce  has  been  with  me  this  morning,  to 
the  utter  astonishment  of  all  in  the  house  who  have  yet 
sctn  him  ;  SMch  a.  siragglinri  visitor,  —  he  was  longer  a 
going,  going,  going,  than  a  bad  bale  of  goods  at  an  auc- 


11 


100  LETTERS   OP  1818 

tion ;  and  even  when  he  began  to  go,  he  brought  to  at 
the  bookcase  on  the  staircase,  and  again  in  the  parlour, 
to  tlic  utter  despair  of  his  wife,  who  resigns  herself  with 
comical  composure  to  all  his  comicalities.  He  will  be 
here  during  the  week,  and  I  shall  do  my  best  to 
strengthen  in  him  certain  wholesome  apprehensions 
which  he  feels  concerning  the  state  of  the  press. 

Dauncey,  the  counsel,  is  here  also.  I  was  very  inti- 
mate W'ith  his  wife  (who  has  been  dead  many  years)  ; 
indeed  I  was  almost  bred  up  with  her.  He  is  a  tho- 
roughly right-minded  man. 

I  have  at  this  time  for  a  guest  the  only  son  of  Hare 
Townsend,  who  was,  as  you  may  remember,  a  great 
ally  of  Burdett.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  this  person  is 
evidently  much  changed  of  late,  and  begins  to  see 
that  under  such  mob  leaders  as  Hone,  Hunt,  and  Co., 
estates  would  be  as  much  in  danger  as  thrones  and 
churches. 

I  have  two  papers  in  the  *'  Quarterly  Review," — 
*'  Evelyn's  Memoirs,"  and  the  other  which  you  recog- 
nised, and  which  is  the  worse  for  not  having  been  plan- 
ned. I  wrote  the  greater  part  thinking  that  your  com- 
munications might  be  inserted,  and  hence  there  is  a 
want  of  method  about  it,  probably  rather  more  than 
wliat  tliere  always  is  in  my  meditations  for  Albemarle 
Street.     But  I  must  dress  to  go  dine  at  the  Island. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Hickman,  Esq. 


Oct.  10.  1818. 

My  dear  R., 

I  have  been  doing  my  best  to  impress  uponWilber- 
force's  mind  a  sense  of  tlic  real  dangers  of  the  country  ; 


1818.  ROIJERT    SOUTIIEY.  101 

and  I  think  if  any  feasible  plan  could  be  struck  out,  it 
is  very  likely  that  he  might  be  induced  to  act  a  very 
useful  part.  What  I  propose  is,  that  Fox's  law  of  libel 
should  be  repealed.  He  talked  of  the  difficulty  of  doing 
this  ;  and  I  told  him  that  if  some  such  measure  were 
not  taken,  and  the  licentiousness  of  the  press  effectually 
curbed, —  unless  he  and  I  made  haste  to  our  graves,  we 
should  both  be  sent  to  the  scaffold.  He  will  not  forget 
this,  and  I  shall  take  care  to  deepen  the  impression. 

Dauncey,  the  counsel,  has  been  here.  I  had  much 
talk  with  him  upon  these  things,  and  found  that  he  en- 
tirely coincided  with  us,  both  as  to  the  evil,  and  the 
means  of  remedy ;  and  sure  I  am,  that  if  a  proper  law 
of  libel  were  brought  forward,  and  a  proper  punishment 
for  treason  in  its  first  stages,  they  would  be  carried  in 
spite  of  all  clamour.  Wynn  would  be  an  excellent  man 
to  come  forward  on  such  an  occasion ;  but  though  he 
knows  the  danger,  I  fear  he  would  shrink  from  the  re- 
medy —  not  from  any  obloquy  to  which  such  a  measure 
would  expose  him. 

If  there  were  wisdom  and  courage  enough  to  take  up 
this  matter  properly,  I  would  undertake  to  prepai-e  the 
public  by  a  full  and  forcible  exposition  of  the  danger. 

Wilberforce  is  very  well  disposed  as  to  forming  an  as- 
sociation for  the  preservation,  &c.  Is  it  worth  while  to 
instigate  him  to  this  ?  I  shall  write  to  him  after  he  has 
left  this  country,  and  have  great  reason  to  suppose  that 
I  can  in  some  degree  influence  him.  You  see,  I  am 
very  far  from  despairing ;  and,  indeed,  the  worse  things 
grow,  the  more  reason  is  there  for  exerting  ourselves  to 
mend  them.  And  you  see  I  am  not  idle.  The  smaller 
packet  had  better  go  straight  to  Pople's,  without  paying 
a  visit  to  Streatham  ;  it  is  an  interpolation  made  just  in 
time.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


H  3 


102  LETTERS   OF  1818. 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Oct.  26.  1618. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  certainly  shall  not  quan-el  with  just  Nemesis 
and  the  other  awful  Powers  of  Vengeance,  for  any  pu- 
nishment which  they  may  have  inflicted  upon  two  persons 
who  thought  proper  to  go  to  Oswestry  and  the  country 
of  the  Welsh  barbarians,  when  they  might  have  come 
to  Keswick,  where  they  would  have  had  fine  weather 
and  rare  society  to  boot.  I  daresay  you  still  smell  like 
Jacob  when  he  personated  his  brother  Esau  ;  unless, 
indeed,  there  be  a  filthy  odour  of  leeks  to  overpower 
the  hircine  savour  which  you  must  have  brought  away 
with  you.  Faugh  !  You  miserable  men,  to  give  up 
Derwentwater,  and  Skiddaw,  and  Saddleback  (over 
which  noble  mountain  I  have  walked  this  very  day), 
and  Wastwater,  (whither  I  would  have  gone  with  you, 
ye  wretches ! )  and  Crummock,  and  Borrodale,  and 
Ulswater,  &c.  &c.  &c.  &;c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c., 
for  rain,  and  lumbago,  and  an  Oswestry  parsonage  ! 
You  might  have  laid  in  a  stock  of  health  for  seven 
years  upon  these  blessed  mountains,  where  there  would 
have  been  nothing  between  you  and  heaven.  But  you 
must  go  to  Wales,  forsooth  !  or  to  the  Welsh  border, 
which  is  worse,  as  if  you  had  been  a  couple  of  sheep- 
stealers !  and  so  would  keep  company  with  Taffy  ;  or, 
like  rats,  were  unable  to  resist  a  bait  of  toasted  cheese ! 

So  much,  by  way  of  condolence ! 

Now  for  myself.  You  will  conclude  that  I  am  in 
tolerable  health  when  you  hear  that  I  was  on  foot  from 
half-past  ten  this  morning  till  six  this  evening,  without 
resting  (more  than  a  few  minutes  occasionally  on  a  stone), 
or  any  other  food  than  a  single  apple.  Tlic  General  was 
my  foot  companion,  and  Chauncey  Townsend  was  with 


1818.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  103 

US  on  horseback ;  for  he,  poor  fellow,  has  not  strength 
for  such  undertakings.  He  has  been  with  me  nearly  a 
month,  and  enjoys  himself  just  as  could  be  vviished.  I 
luive  been  out  a  good  deal  with  him,  though  less  than 
if  he  had  been  a  good  pedestrian,  and  probably  I  may 
be  the  better  for  it. 

You  will  have  seen  my  two  papers  in  the  last  "  Q.  R." 
The  Alegistos  thought  proper,  when  he  sent  me  150/. 
for  them,  to  remind  me  that  such  prices  could  not  be 
afforded  unless  the  articles  produced  a  decided  im- 
pression, to  observe  that  the  latter  part  of  Evelyn  had 
been  approved,  and  to  offer  some  hints  respecting  the 
arrangement  of  such  reviewals  in  future.  I  daresay  my 
answer  would  astonish  him.  It  was  written  in  thorough 
good  humour,  and  without  expressing  the  slightest  re- 
sentment at  such  impertinence  :  in  truth,  I  understand 
his  humour  too  well  to  feel  anything  except  amusement 
at  it.  But  I  told  him  that  though  his  prices  were  very 
liberal,  it  was  nevertheless  very  plain  that  I  was  em- 
ploying myself  less  profitably  (of  which  I  gave  him  con- 
vincing proofs),  and  less  worthily  (which  he  will  not 
very  easily  comprehend),  in  writing  for  them  than  in 
pursuing  my  own  greater  avocations  ;  and  that,  there- 
fore, he  must  admit  it  to  be  a  matter  of  prudence  on 
my  part,  when  I  should  have  executed  the  paper  in 
hand,  to  become  only  an  occasional  contributor  to  the 
"  Q-.  R.,"  instead  of  a  regular  assistant,  and  that  at  long 
intervals.  He  is  chewing  the  cud  upon  this,  and  I 
shall  adhere  to  my  purpose. 

Therefore,  when  I  have  finished  what  I  have  in  hand 
for  him  for  this  next  number,  instead  of  supplying  any- 
thing for  the  following  one,  I  shall  complete  my  tale  of 
"  Paraguay,"  which,  with  the  help  of  some  drawings  from 
Nash,  will  bring  me  about  300/.,  by  an  edition  of  2000. 
Then  I  shall  go  to  my  long-planned  tale  of  "Oliver 
Newman,"  and  for  this  I  will   demand  a  price  of  the 

II   4 


104  LETTERS   OF  1818. 

Longmen.  By  the  time  that  I  reach  the  age  of  fifty,  if 
I  should  live  so  long,  it  is  fit  and  proper  that  I  should 
have  realised  enough  to  emancipate  myself  from  all  the 
drudgery  of  literature  ;  that  is  to  say,  from  all  such 
writing  as  is  performed  merely  for  the  sake  of  bread. 

Herewith,  I  send  you  Ballantyne's  promissory  note, 
—  a  lucky  recovery  of  money  which  I  had  given  up  for 
lost,  though  I  am  still  a  loser  to  the  amount  of  as  much 
more.  But  this  is  the  purchase-money  of  my  share  in  that 
"  Register,"  for  which  I  did  such  good  yeoman-service. 
Do  you  put  it  into  proper  hands  to  negotiate  it  ;  and 
when  you  have  the  proceeds,  add  to  them  from  my  next 
payment  as  much  as  may  suffice  to  buy  in  300/.  in  the 
31.  per  cents.  I  have  100/.  already  there,  and  shall 
then  be  worth  12/.  per  annum.  My  incomings  this 
year  are  considerably  less  than  the  last.  "Kehama" 
and  "  Roderick"  are  reprinting,  and  will  hardly  pay 
their  expenses  next  year  ;  but  I  may  look  to  "  Wesley" 
for  something,  though  it  will  be  little  in  proportion  to 
the  time  and  labour  bestowed  upon  the  work. 

These  cares  do  not  sit  heavily  upon  me  ;  except,  in- 
deed, that  my  death  (a  much  more  likely  event  than  his 
own)  would  leave  Tom  to  bear  the  whole  penalty  of  his 
rash  marriage.  A  circumstance  of  a  very  different  na- 
ture affects  me  mucli  more  in  my  lieart  of  hearts.  After 
an  interval  of  more  than  six  years,  I  am  likely  to  become 
again  a  father;  and  you  may  well  imagine  what  feelings 
this  must  occasion,  after  the  grievous  loss  which  we 
have  sustained  in  those  years, —  a  loss  which  I  shall  never 
wholly  overcome.  This  prospect,  indeed,  only  makes  me 
feel  more  deeply  how  irreparable  it  is  ;  for,  setting  aside 
the  myriad  or  million  chances  against  my  having  such 
another  son  as  that  incomparable  boy,  it  is  but  too 
certain  that  I  should  neither  have  life  nor  heart  ever 
again  to  perform  my  duty  by  another  in  the  same 
manner. 


1S18.  ROBERT   SOUTIIKY.  105 

This  will  prevent  me  from  leaving  home  till  February 
or  March.  Edith's  spirits  are,  as  you  may  suppose, 
very  much  affected,  and  she  suffers  very  much  in  her 
bodily  health.     God  bless  you. 

li.  S. 


To  John  Rickinany  Esq. 

Keswick,  Nov.  1818. 

My  dear  R., 

There  is  a  mulatto  now  living  in  Pernambuco, 
who  was  born  in  the  service  of  Joam  Fernandez  Vieira, 
and  was  six  or  seven  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death ; 
he  cannot,  therefore,  be  less  than  145  years  old.  His 
limbs  are  withered,  his  skin  shrivelled,  he  has  lost 
almost  all  his  teeth,  and  wanders  in  his  discourse;  but 
he  is  erect,  his  eye  bright,  and  his  voice  full  and  clear. 
Koster  has  seen  and  conversed  with  him.  He  spoke  of 
something  as  having  happened  "just  now;"  which 
phrase,  when  he  was  further  questioned,  he  explained 
to  mean  about  fifty  years  ago. 

Thank  the  Capitaneus  for  his  "  Memoir."  I  suspect 
that  some  marine  volcanoes  have  been  the  cause  of  this 
dislocation  of  the  ice ;  and  my  ground  for  the  suspicion 
is  that  the  fish  have  deserted  the  coast  of  Kamtschatka, 
thereby  occasioning,  from  want  of  other  food,  a  helium 
civile  among  the  bears,  and  a  helium  plusquam  civile  of 
the  bears  against  the  Russians  and  Kamtschatchans. 

Barrow  seems  to  have  succeeded  to  Dalrymple  as  a 
theorist  at  the  Admiralty.  I  wonder  the  Congo  ex- 
pedition has  not  made  him  especially  cautious  of  expos- 
ing valuable  lives  to  imminent  danger. 

R.  S. 


106  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jan.  1.  1819. 

My  dear  G., 

Your  pencils  are  on  my  chimney-piece,  and  the 
next  question  is  how  to  transport  them  to  yours,  for 
they  are  of  an  unfrankable  shape  and  texture;  and  at 
this  season  of  the  year  no  opportunity  of  sending  them 
by  a  private  hand  is  likely  to  occur  ;  and,  unluckily, 
it  so  happens  that  I  never  stood  more  in  need  of  such 
an  opportunity. 

I  am  very  much  obliged  to  Shields  for  his  desire  of 
setting  my  verses  to  music,  very  much  flattered,  &;c.  &c.; 
and  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  solicitude  about 
them,  and  entirely  of  your  opinion  as  to  the  said 
verses,  as  far  as  regards  their  merit.  You  know  I  told 
you  that  simple  fiddling  was  not  fit  for  them,  —  they 
ought  to  be  bum-fiddled  !  But  as  for  their  giving  of- 
fence, God  help  the  silly  person  who  should  be  offended 
at  them !  They  have  no  other  fault  than  that  of  being 
altogether  good  for  nothing;  and  no  other  merit  than 
that  of  being  entirely  suitable  to  the  subject;  that  is 
to  say,  quite  as  common-place.  I  thought  the  subject 
was  no  matter  of  choice, —  the  Queen's  death  coming 
so  close  upon  the  end  of  the  year.  Otherwise  it  is  most 
likely  I  should  have  taken  a  general  topic,  and  given  a 
lyrical  sketch  of  the  state  of  Europe,  which  might  have 
been  a  companion  to  that  ode  of  mine,  written  four 
years  ago,  wherewith  I  am  well  pleased.  There  is  no 
reason  why  I  should  not  write  such  an  ode  still  (except 
that  I  am  much  better  employed)  ;  but  you,  yourself, 
say  it  cannot  be  in  time,  and  so,  in  Cumberland 
phrase,  "  I  need  not  fash  myself."  I  have  done  my 
exercise  ;  a  very  bad  one  it  is,  I  know  ;  but  I  do  not 
think  it  will  be  looked  over ;  and  if  it  should,  and  they 


1819.  IIOBERT    SOUTIIEY.  107 

were  to  sconce  me  a  quarter's  salary  for  it,  I  can  tell 
them  this,  that  I  could  get  251.  in  less  time  than  it 
would  take  me  to  make  a  better.  Nevertheless,  if  any- 
thing comes  into  a  head,  which  is  at  present  far  too 
much  occupied  to  have  room  in  it  for  stray  fancies,  I 
will  give  the  "Minerva"  birth;  and,  peradventure,  it 
may  do  as  well  for  next  year  as  for  this,  if  all  parties 
concerned  should  see  another  new  year,  and  if  Europe 
continues  for  so  long  at  peace.  Shields  is  a  goodnatured 
man ;  and,  really,  I  will  in  future  let  him  have  my  ex- 
ercise in  full  time.  He  shall  have  it  by  the  end  of 
November.  At  present  I  think  we  are  completely  out 
of  the  scrape. 

My  dear  Grosvenor,  why  do  you  speak  in  such  terms 
of  Haydon  ?  who  is,  even  by  the  acknowledgment  of 
those  who  dislike  him  most,  a  man  of  first-rate  power 
in  his  art.  He  may  have  done  some  foolish  things,  and 
acted  indiscreetly  in  others;  but  to  speak  of  him  with 
contempt,  and  call  him  a  coxcomb,  is  out  of  all  reason. 
He  has  long  since  broken  off  all  connection  with  Leigh 
Hunt  on  account  of  his  mischievous  opinions ;  but  I 
have  nothing  to  do  with  his  friendships  or  his  enmities. 
I  know  him  only  as  one  of  those  painters  who,  if  op- 
portunity were  given  them,  would  place  this  country  as 
much  above  all  others  in  that  art,  as  we  are  in  arms 
and  in  poetry,  and  in  the  real  enjoyments  of  life. 

Nor  do  you  speak  in  consonance  with  my  feelings 
concerning  your  friend  Mr.  Fielding,  and  James  Fon- 
taine. If  the  former  is  thinking  more  of  the  world  to 
come  than  of  this,  it  Is  not  a  mental  dram-drinking  to 
which  he  has  taken,  but  the  only  proper  diet.  Fon- 
taine is  not  a  dreamer,  but  a  sober  and  rational  in- 
quirer into  a  subject  of  no  trifling  importance,  inasmuch 
as  it  involves  the  most  reasonable  objection  to  our  esta- 
blished creed.  He  has  not  written  well,  and,  therefore, 
will  produce  little  or  no  effect.     The  book  is  far  too 


108  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

long,  and  wants  method  as  well  as  condensation.  But 
he  is  right,  and  when  I  come  to  town  I  should  like  to 
see  him. 

My  house  is  dismally  silent.  Tantemagne  *  (a  coin- 
age this  moment  from  the  mint)  went  yesterday  with 
Sara  and  Shedaw  to  Rydal,  where  they  will  stay  about 
a  fortnight.  Talking  of  Tantemagne,  I  threaten  her 
sometimes  that  I  will  import  an  aimt-caiei'  from  Brazil. 

I  wrote  lately  to  Wynn,  urging  him  to  stand  in 
Romilly's  place,  and  put  himself  at  the  head  of  that 
reform  on  the  criminal  laws  which  must  be  made,  and 
which  he  will  conduct  with  more  judgment  and  ujion 
better  principles  than  Sir  Samuel.  I  do  not  want  him 
to  be  more  in  opposition  than  he  is ;  indeed,  I  would 
far  rather  see  him  with  the  Government,  and  this  he 
knows.  But  I  would  have  him  more  in  the  eyes  of  the 
country,  and  here  the  way  for  him  is  open. 

I  suppose  Murray  will  have  to  send  me  Mr.  Butler's 
book.  We  have  an  interchange  of  this  kind,  and  are 
upon  the  best  terms  with  each  other;  —  though  he  is 
the  most  zealous  defender  of  the  Catholics  (his  own 
persuasion),  and  I  the  most  zealous  opposer  of  that 
abominable  corruption  of  Christianity,  and  of  the  im- 
pudent cry  of  Catholic  Emancipation. 

God  bless  you,  and  give  you  many  a  happy  new  year. 

B/.  S. 


To  IV alter  Savage  Landor,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jan.  3.  1819. 

My  dear  Landor, 

I   procrastinated    my   intended   letter  too  long, 
till,  upon  the  belief  you  would  have  left  Como,  I  knew 

*  ]\Irs.  ColeridffO. 


1819.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  109 

not  where  to  direct,  and  Senlioiise,  whom  I  desired  to 
obtain  your  address  from  your  brother  Robert,  has  not 
written  to  me ;  therefore  I  was  doubly  glad  to  receive 
yours  from  Pisa.  It  came  in  eighteen  days.  My  house 
was  purchased  by  a  silversmith  in  Cockspur  Street,  a 
native  of  Borrodale  here.  An  injunction  against  the 
sale  was  obtained  in  favour  of  the  widow  of  a  former 
owner:  the  matter  is  in  Chancer}' :  the  actual  landlord 
is  in  Carlisle  jail,  and  I  am  paying  rent  to  a  mortgagee. 
Disturbed  in  possession  of  the  house  I  cannot  be  for 
twelve  years  to  come  ;  and  as  long  as  there  is  any  liti- 
gation, I  am  in  no  danger  of  being  annoyed  by  cutting 
up  the  grounds.  Unless  some  such  annoyance  should 
drive  me  away,  in  all  likelihood  I  shall  be  settled  here 
for  life.  This  is  the  sixteenth  year  of  my  residence  : 
and  though  there  are  some  local  objections,  and  some  in- 
convenience in  the  distance  from  London,  I  know  not 
where  I  could  pitch  my  tent  more  to  my  satisfaction. 
A  better  climate  is  not  to  be  had  without  going  out  of 
England  ;  and  that  cannot  be  done  because  of  my  pur- 
suits, my  books,  and  my  family. 

I  was  quite  certain  that  you  would  appreciate  Words- 
worth justly.  Nations,  you  say,  are  not  proud  of  living 
genius.  They  are  proud  of  it  only  as  far  as  they  under- 
stand it ;  and  the  majorit}',  being  incapable  of  under- 
standing it,  can  never  admire  it,  till  they  take  it  upon 
trust :  so  that  two  or  three  generations  must  pass  before 
the  public  affect  to  admire  such  poets  as  Milton  and 
Wordsworth.  Of  such  men  the  world  scarcely  produces 
one  in  a  millennium ; — has  it,  indeed,  ever  produced 
more  than  two  ?  for  Shakspeare  is  of  a  different  class. 
But  of  all  inferior  degrees  of  poets  no  age  and  no 
country  was  ever  so  prolific  as  our  own  :  every  season 
produces  some  half  dozen  poems,  not  one  of  which  ob- 
tains the  slightest  attention,  and  any  one  of  which  would 


110  LETTERS   OP  1819. 

liave  the  author  celehvated  above  all  contemporaries  five- 
and-tNventy  years  ago. 

Let  me  know  your  movements,  and  how  I  may  direct 
a  parcel  to  you  in  May,  by  which  time  the  concluding 
volume  of  "  Brazil"  will  be  finished,  and  the  "  Life  of 
Wesley  ; "  and  I  will  put  in  something  else  to  make  them 
the  better  worth  their  freight.  The  former  contains 
inuch  curious  matter,  containing  stages  of  society  whicli 
have  hitherto  obtained  little  notice,  but  are  important 
links  in  our  knowledge  of  the  history  of  man  and  of 
society.  The  "  Life  of  Wesley  "  is  full  of  extraordinary 
facts,  and  will  carry  you  into  another  world  as  little  like 
the  one  with  which  you  are  conversant  as  if  it  were 
another  planet. 

Since  I  returned  from  the  Continent,  I  have  never 
been  farther  from  home  than  Rydal.  I  have  been 
working  on  at  these  works,  with  my  usual  summer  and 
autumnal  interruptions,  and  the  usual  expenditure  of 
time  for  the  "  Quarterly  Review."  The  verses  which  I 
have  written  are  so  few  that  they  do  not  deserve  to  be 
mentioned.  As  soon  as  these  worlds  are  through  the 
press,  I  go  to  Tiondon,  and  put  to  press  the  "  History 
of  the  Peninsular  War,"  of  which  good  part  is  ready.  I 
suppose,  we  shall  hear  of  a  Cabinet  revolution  from  that 
poor  country  !  Anything  I  do  not  expect,  nor  do  I 
know  what  to  wish  for,  where  any  change  will  too  pro- 
bably be  but  a  change  of  evils.  Some  arrangement  like 
that  at  Lisbon,  when  Affonso  VL  was  set  aside  for  in- 
capacity, is  the  most  likely  catastrophe,  and  the  one 
which  would  produce  least  mischief.  Look  where  we 
will  through  the  civilised  world,  the  materials  for  ex- 
plosion seem  ready  ;  and  there  is  no  exhilarating  consi- 
deration for  one  who  has  lived  long  enough  to  know 
that  order  is  the  first  thing  needful  in  society.  Here  in 
England  a  fair  harvest  and  a  flourishing  trade  give  us  a 
surface  of  tranquillity.       But  all  our  institutions,  civil 


1819.  IIOBERT   SOUTIlEy.  Ill 

and  religious,  nay  and  whatever  is  sacred  in  public  and 
in  private  life,  are  continually  attacked  by  the  press  in 
every  shape :  by  sapping,  and  mining,  and  by  battering 
in  breach.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  powerful 
counteracting  causes  at  work,  and  in  the  struggle  be- 
tween good  and  evil,  the  destructive  and  conservative 
principles,  which  this  literally  is,  my  faith  and  my  con- 
stitution are  alike  on  the  hopeful  side. 

When  you  have  seen  enough  of  Italy,  I  think  you 
will  be  more  disposed  to  tarry  awhile  in  Switzerland 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Continent ;  if  you  can 
forgive  them  for  speaking  French,  an  Englishman  feels 
more  at  home  among  the  Swiss  than  with  any  other 
people :  the  religion  and  their  domestic  character  are 
more  like  what  he  has  been  accustomed  to  ;  and  he 
feels  that  he  is  breathing  free  air,  whicli  is  a  blessed 
thing.  I  should  hesitate  between  Bern  and  Lausanne. 
Perhaps  I  may  see  you  before  you  leave  Italy.  I  dream 
of  seeing  Rome  before  I  die  ;  and  should  I  live  to  carry 
the  "  Peninsular  War  "  through  the  press  (the  work  of 
two  years  from  this  time),  I  should  endeavour  to  lay  my 
plans  so  as  to  enter  Italy  by  the  south  of  France  late  in 
the  autumn,  and  leave  it  in  the  spring  by  way  of  the 
Tyrol.  It  is  but  a  dream  ;  but  one  of  those  dreams 
which  bring  about  their  own  accomplishment. 

God  bless  you  with  many  and  happy  years. 

R.  S. 


To  J.  Neville  White,  Esq. 

Keswick,  January  9.  1819. 

My  dear  Neville, 

Writing   to  you  I  find  when   I  am   in  want  of 
anything,  is  like  putting  on  Fortunatus's  wishing-cap. 


112  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

I  cannot  tell  you  liow  mucli  I  was  surprised  and  grati- 
fied yesterday  by  the  contents  of  your  parcel.  The 
book  arrived  in  the  best  time  possible,  to  assist  me  with 
materials  in  that  part  precisely  where  they  are  most 
scanty  and  I  was  most  deficient,  and  completely  to 
confirm  the  view  which  I  had  taken  of  the  conduct  of 
the  Jesuits  in  the  most  important  part  of  the  volume, 
and  indeed  of  the  work.  Dean  Funes  has  a  strong 
Spanish  antipathy  for  the  Portuguese:  except  where 
this  feeling  predominates,  I  find  his  opinions,  both  of 
men  and  measures,  to  coincide  with  my  own  in  every 
important  point,  and  this  coincidence  is  so  remarkable 
as  to  be  not  a  little  gratifying  to  me. 

I  am  truly  rejoiced  at  what  you  say  of  yourself,  your 
prospects,  and  your  intentions.  You  have  a  right  to 
look  forward  with  hope,  because  you  can  look  back  with 
satisfaction  ;  and  where  a  man  is  thus  situated  with  re- 
spect to  the  past  and  the  future,  he  may  justly  think 
himself  happy,  and  be  thankful  that  he  was  born  into 
the  world. 

Condor's  first  volume  is  buried  on  my  table  under  a 
tremendous  accumulation  of  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Ma- 
nuscripts, and  Methodism.  I  am  ashamed  of  not  hav- 
ing yet  read  it,  and  written  to  him.  I  have  gone  some 
way  through  the  first  volume.  The  book  does  him  very 
great  credit,  though  I  believe  him  to  be  radically  wrong; 
hatiyifj  that,  as  the  woman  said,  he  may  defy  criticism. 
You  have  exactly  hit  the  blot.  Here  lies  the  truth  : 
what  is  vital  and  spiritual  in  religion,  is  compatible  with 
various  forms,  witii  many  imperfections  and  errors  of 
belief,  and  with  much  alloy  of  superstition  ;  and  as  it 
is  independent  of  all  rational  distinctions,  it  acts  when 
those  distinctions  are  forgotten.  The  question  is  in 
what  manner  can  Governments  best  provide  for  the 
religious  instruction  of  the  people,  and  how  can  they 
best  maintain  those  outward  and  visible  forms,  without 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  113 

which  (supposing  them  to  be  totally  abandoned)  the  in- 
ward and  spiritual  grace  could  no  more  exist,  than  our 
life  could  exist  on  earth  without  the  body  in  which  it 
resides.  Now  I  affirm  that  it  is  just  as  much  the  duty 
of  a  Government  to  establish  a  National  Church,  endow 
it  largely,  and  support  it  liberally,  as  it  is  for  the 
father  of  a  family  to  train  up  his  children  in  the  way  he 
would  have  them  go. 

I  am  most  exceedingly  obliged  to  your  friend  Mr. 
John  M'Neile,  and  I  beg  you  will  tell  him  so  when  you 
have  an  opportunity.  I  should  not  have  known  that 
such  a  book  was  in  existence,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
Yankee  Report,  and  nothing  could  have  been  more 
opportune  for  me  than  its  arrival.  You  know  with 
what  solicitude  I  seek  for  documents  upon  every  subject 
on  which  I  am  employed,  but  you  can  hardly  estimate 
the  great  delight  there  is  in  obtaining  them,  when  they 
are  not  easily  obtainable,  and  especially  when  they  are 
unexpected. 

Mrs.  Southey  desires  to  be  most  kindly  remembered. 
Edith  and  Sara  are  with  Mrs.  Coleridge,  at  Words- 
worth's, as  happy  as  playfellows,  jackasses,  and  fiddles, 
can  make  them.  These  are  the  joys  of  their  dancing 
days ! 

God  bless  you,  my  dear  Neville. 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


VOL.  III. 


114  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

To  John  Hickman,  Esq.,  (§r. 

Keswick,  Jan.  25.  1819. 

My  dear  R., 

Thank  you  for  a  succession  of  proof  sheets,  every 
one   of  which    operates   upon   me  like  the  crack  of  a 
whip   in   the  air  upon   a  willing   horse.      I  have   been 
lucky  enough,  by   means   of  Neville   White,  to   get   a 
history  of  Buenos  Ayres,  Tucuman,  and  Paraguay,  lately 
printed  at  Buenos  Ayres,  which   I  first  §.aw  mentioned 
in  the  "Report"  of  the  Yankee  Commissioners.     No- 
thing   could    arrive    more    opportunely  ;     it    gives    me 
information  where  I  most  wanted  it,  and  in  the  most 
satisfactory  manner  confirms  the  view  I  had  taken  of 
those  points  that  are  most  disputed.     In  this  work  of 
Funes'  is  the  only  account  which  has  ever  appeared  of 
the  tremendous  insurrection  of  the  Peruvians  under  one 
of  the  Inca  blood  in   1782-3.     In   two  instances  they 
demolished    the   fortifications    of    a    Spanish   town   by 
bringing  a  7-irer  to  bear  upon  them.     It  is  very  evident 
to  me,  that  if  the  Indians  were  as  active  and  as  powerful 
now  as  they  were  forty  years  ago,  the  end  of  these  civil 
wars  would  be,  that  they  would  destroy  the  surviving 
Spaniards,  and   lay  the   country  waste  ;    but  I  suspect 
that  since  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits,  spirits  have  been 
introduced  among  them  freely,  and  that  this  has  con- 
tributed to  destroy  them,  almost  as  much  as  their  own 
cursed    practices    of    abortion    and    infanticide.       The 
Buenos  Ayres  historian,  however,   speaks  of  them   as 
still  formidable. 

God  bless  you. 

£V.   S. 


1813.  ROBERT    SOUTIIET.  115 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 


Jan.  26.  1819. 


Your  "  Aristotle  "  is  here  ;  shall  it  be  sent  to  you .'' 
There  will  be  an  opportunity  ere  long  of  enclosing 
it  in  a  parcel  to  Longman's. 

Nothing  could  have  answered  more  opportunely  than 
your  letter  this  afternoon,  for  there  came  with   it  its 
very  best  proof  sheet,  in  which  your  story,    if  I  had 
remembered   it,   would   have   had   its   place.      So   it  is 
inserted  just  where  it  ought  to  be.     By  a  great  piece 
of  good  fortune,  Neville  White  has  procured  for  me  the 
"  History  of  Paraguay,  Tucuman,  and  Buenos  Ayres, 
by  Dr.  Gregorio  Funes,  Dean  of  Cordova,  in  Tucuman." 
Here  I  have  a  full  Spanish  account  of  all  the  trans- 
actions of  the  respective  Colonies,  Rio  Grande,  South 
Catalina,  and  the  Uruagay  provinces,  which,  with  what 
I  find  in  the  "  Corografia  Brazilica,"  will  enable  me  to 
bring  down   the  series  of   public  transactions   without 
any  apparent  chasm  to  the  close  of  the  histor}'.      I  am 
going  on,  tooth  and  nail,  with  this  one  subject.     If  Dr. 
Bell  will  let  me,  I  shall  send  off  more  copy  this  night, 
and  to-morrow  I  expect  to  finish  the  chapter.     Of  all 
these  lives  of  Pombal,  the  one  in   manuscript  is    the 
best;    but   the   "Anedotti"   contains    most   particulars 
respecting  the  Jesuits.      A  certain  George  Moore,  Esq. 
has  set  forth  a  "  Life,"  upon  the  strength   of  materials 
supplied  by  his  friend,  the  Marquis  of  Sligo;  but  in 
what  the  materials  have  consisted,  it  would  be  difficult 
to   discover  —  Ex  nihilo,  8^-c.      The    gentleman    knows 
nothing  of  Portugal,  and  as  little  as  possible  of  Pombal. 
1  perceive,  that  when  I  come  to  this  part  of  the  home 
history,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  proceed  to  my  satisfac- 
tion, unless  I  can   obtain  a  complete  collection  of  the 


116  LETTERS    OF  1819. 

Alvaras*,  Sec.  during  his  administration.  But  this  is 
lookinjr  far  forward. 

Your  old  acquaintance  Ratton-|-  will  be  of  some  use 
in  the  next  chapter.  The  work  eventually  grows  under 
my  hands,  and  it  may,  possibly,  still  extend  to  four 
chapters  more;  but  after  so  much  has  been  done,  this 
is  nothing,  and  fifty  pages  in  the  volume  more  or  less 
are  not  to  be  regarded. 

It  is  very  gratifying  to  perceive  that  Turner,  who  has 
had  access  to  archives  and  manuscript  histories,  confirms 
the  view  which  I  have  taken  of  all  transactions  belonging 
to  my  subject  as  well  as  his,  except  where  the  Portu- 
guese are  concerned.  The  only  Spanish  feeling  which 
he  has  retained  seems  to  be  a  hearty  hatred  of  his 
neighbours;  but  in  every  other  point  I  could  not  have 
desired  a  more  entire  conformity.  The  most  curious 
part  of  his  book  is  a  history  of  tlie  insurrection  of  the 
Indians  under  one  of  the  Inca  blood  during  our  Ame- 
rican war.  No  details  had  ever  before  been  published. 
It  is  a  dreadful  story:  the  Peruvians  displayed  a  degree 
of  talent  very  superior  to  my  poor  friends  the  Guaranics. 
Twice  when  they  were  besieging  Spanish  towns,  they 
dammed  up  a  river,  and  brought  its  waters  to  bear  upon 
the  walls. 

Gifibrd  has  postponed  both  my  papers,  which  he  was 
very  welcome  to  do.  I  shall  do  no  more  than  I  can 
afford  for  the  "(Quarterly  Review"  in  future;  and  I 
am  very  much  disposed  to  think  that  if  I  get  through 
the  subjects  which  have  long  been  promised,  my  labours 
will  conclude  with  them.  The  index  means  nothing 
more  than  that  it  will  answer  Murray's  purpose  to 
publish  it.  The  "E.  R."  sold  the  same  at  the  end  of 
twenty  volumes. 

I  have  long  expected  that  Scott  would  be  baronetted; 

*   Sec  History  of  BijizII,  vol.  iii.  p.  -io.,  note. 
t  Ibid,  vol.  iii.  p.  553.,  note. 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTnEY.  Il7 

liis  means  are  probably  ample  for  a  Scotch  baronet, 
(you  remember  the  old  stave,  "  A  Gentleman  of  Wales, 
a  Knight  of  Cales,"  &c.)  ;  and  if  he  be  the  author  of  the 
**  Novels  "(as  I  am  sure  he  is),  no  other  man  has  ever 
contributed  so  long  and  so  largely  to  the  amusement  of 
his  contemporaries.  You  would  like  him  much  if  you 
knew  him.  He  is  a  good-hearted  man,  frank,  friendly, 
generous,  without  a  spark  of  envy  in  his  nature,  and 
not  in  the  slightest  degree  inflated  by  his  extraordinary 
success.  As  for  myself,  I  know  that  I  am  in  my  voca- 
tion, and  all  things  considered,  I  believe  that  I  am  in 
my  place.  Old  George  Wither's  motto  might  almost 
serve  for  mine,  —  "  Nee  haheo,  nee  careo,  nee  euro."  "  I 
look  for  nothing  in  this  world,  I  want  for  nothing,  I 
wish  for  nothing."  I  am  too  old  to  change  my  way  of 
life,  even  if  I  had  ever  been  fit  for  any  other ;  and 
with  regard  to  the  Court,  if  I  had  not  been  obliged  to 
kiss  hands  upon  the  appointment,  the  Prince  would 
never  have  seen  his  poet —  Quid  Rom(S  faciam,  &c, 

Adanison  the  Newcastle  lawyer,  whom  I  usually  call 
A-dam-son  of  the  Muses,  is  publishing  a  "  Life  of 
Camoeris"  in  two  volumes.  A  pretty  life  it  will  be! 
He  seems  to  be  a  very  worthy  and  very  simple  sort  of 
man,  with  no  more  talents  for  literature  than  I  have 
for  dancing,  and  yet  an  uncontrollable  inclination  for 
it.  1  have  an  opportunity  of  sending  for  books  to 
Madrid,  through  Kinder,  who  has  a  mercantile  concern 
there  ;  and  by  that  channel  I  shall  endeavour  to  obtain 
Lozano,  Montoya,  Xarque,  and  such  other  books  as 
are  wanting  to  complete  the  Paraguay  collection.  If 
that  country  were  but  safe,  I  have  a  strong  desire  to 
visit  it  once  more.  There  will  be  a  good  deal  to  add 
in  the  "  Brazilian  History "  whenever  it  may  be  re- 
printed ;  and  though  it  is  very  possible  that  this  may 
not  take  place  in  my  lifetime,  I  shall  make  the  im- 
provement as  leisure  may  offer  and  materials  occur. 

I  3 


118  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

Love  to  my  aunt.     It  may  be  yet  a  month  before  I 
have  any  domestic  intelligence  to  communicate. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  a  IF.  W.  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Jan.  27.  1819, 

My  dear  Wynn, 

The  cause  of  my  wishing  to  ascertain  whether  I 
was  disqualified  for  voting  at  an  election,  either  by  my 
pension  or  office,  was  simply  this  :  Brougham  has 
placed  these  counties  in  a  state  of  permanent  warfare, 
upon  a  scheme  originally  devised  by  Lord  Stanhope  for 
the  benefit  of  the  county  of  Kent.  Both  parties  are 
buying  up  freeholds  ;  and  being  asked  to  give  my  assist- 
ance in  this  way,  I  promised  so  to  do,  when  I  might 
have  100/.  which  I  could  vest  in  Westmoreland  land  ; 
but  the  opportunity  occurred  too  soon  ;  and  as  I  could 
not  be  ready  with  the  money,  I  did  not  choose  to  accept 
a  loan,  for  two  valid  reasons :  the  one  an  apprehension 
that  the  money  for  which  I  should  have  stood  indebted 
to  one  with  whom  I  am  intimate  enough  to  allow  of 
such  a  transaction,  might  have  in  reality  been  advanced 
from  a  diflTerent  quarter,  and  therefore,  in  case  an 
election  had  occurred  before  it  was  repaid,  have  ex- 
posed me  to  an  unpleasant  feeling  in  tendering  my  vote  ; 
the  other,  a  determination  never  to  enter  into  an  en- 
gagement which  it  may  be  difficult  or  inconvenient  for 
me  to  fulfil,  if  I  can  possibly  help  it.  For  the  greater 
part  of  my  yearly  expenses  must  still  be  supplied  by 
the  year's  labour,  and  is  therefore  wholly  contingent 
upon  the  continuance  of  health,  eye-sight,  and  the  use 


1819.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  119 

of  my  faculties,   eitlier  of  which  may  fail  me  at  any 
moment. 

It  appears  to  me  that  you  undervalue  your  own 
weiglit  in  Parliament,  and  do  not  perhaps  see  the  state 
of  the  board  so  well  as  a  looker-on.  The  great  pieces 
are  cleared  off,  and  you  may  come  in,  like  a  castle,  to- 
ward the  end  of  tlie  game.  It  appears  to  me  that  the 
question  of  the  criminal  law  cannot  long  be  evaded ; 
that  ^Ministers  will  not  take  it  into  their  own  hands  as 
they  ought  to  do,  because  they  never  have  courage 
enough,  or  foresight  enough,  to  anticipate  the  public 
feeling,  and  thereby  to  direct  it ;  but  that  they  would 
be  glad  to  see  it  in  your  hands,  rather  than  in  those  of 
a  thick  and  thin  Oppositionist,  to  whom  it  would  give 
popularity  at  their  expense,  and  by  whom  it  certainly 
will  be  taken  up,  if  no  better  person  steps  forward. 
Among  the  things  to  be  desired,  one,  I  think,  is  that 
transportation  should  always  be  for  life,  and  the  gra- 
dation of  punishment  be  measured  by  the  term  for 
which  the  convict  was  to  be  employed  in  public  works. 
I  wish,  too,  seeing  the  constant  increase  of  crime,  that 
from  among  the  numbers  of  soldiers  whom  we  have 
discharged,  a  strong  patrole  had  been  formed,  who 
might  have  retained  as  much  of  their  discipline  as  would 
have  been  convenient,  and  been  subjected  to  the  civil 
power.  They  would  have  been  better  employed  in 
preventing  robberies  and  murders  than  in  committing 
them,  which  in  too  many  instances  will  be  the  alter- 
native. 

I  know  not  what  has  possessed  Gifford  and  Murray 
to  postpone  or  set  aside  my  paper  upon  the  copyright 
question  ;  the  bill  of  fare  indicates  three  or  four  sub- 
jects which  had  certainly  no  very  imperative  claims  for 
preference,  and  one  would  have  supposed  Murray  might 
have  had  some  regard  to  his  own  interest  in  thfe  question. 

I   4 


120  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

There  is  nothing  of  mine  in  the  number,  and  will  be 
very  little  hereafter,  if  I  can  by  any  means  avoid  it. 

I  need  not  say  how  much  it  gratified  me  to  see  the 
manner  in  which  you  were  spoken  of  by  Canning  the 
other  day ;  and  this  is  an  indication,  at  least,  of  more 
weight  and  character  than  you  gave  yourself  credit  for. 
That  the  criminal  laws  will  undergo  some  alteration, 
and  the  prison  discipline  a  thorough  reform,  is,  I  think, 
certain.  (It  is  odd  enough  that,  in  the  "  Edinburgh 
Register,"  1  should  have  wished  to  have  our  prisons 
placed  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Quakers.) 
But  there  remains  a  much  more  Herculean  task,  which 
is  to  clear  away  the  rubbish  of  law ;  for  in  truth  the 
pedantry  and  chicanery,  and  the  insufferable  delays, 
vexations,  and  expense  of  law,  are  among  the  first  evils 
of  existing  society  —  I  had  almost  said  the  greatest. 
One  of  the  projects  to  which  I  look  forward  in  the 
summer  is,  that  of  taking  up  my  old  friend  "  Espriella," 
and  putting  together  the  facts  and  materials  which  have 
occurred  to  me  during  the  last  ten  years.  That  cha- 
racter gives  me  the  same  license  as  a  mask  would  do. 

Did  I  send  you  the  opening  of  "  Oliver  Newman." 
in  a  small  square  size,  so  as  to  lie  within  the  compass 
of  a  common  frank,  or  in  half  quatrain  form  ?  In 
whichever  shape  it  was,  you  shall  have  the  whole  in 
sequence  as  it  proceeds.  I  am  only  in  the  third  book. 
The  desire  of  finishing  my  "  Brazil "  is  so  strong  upon 
me,  that  I  scarcely  dream  of  anything  else,  now  that 
the  end  is  in  sight. 

Has  anything  been  done  about  looking  for  the  Welsh 
Indians  ?  I  must  confess  that  the  more  I  know  of  the 
country,  the  less  likely  does  the  chance  of  discovering 
them  appear.  If  a  savage  has  at  any  time  been  met 
with  who  spoke  Welsh,  I  should  be  inclined  to  suspect 
that  he  was  a  Welshman  who  had  turned  savage.  There 
are   always  deserters  from    civilisation  :    among  them 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  121 

Frencli,  English,  and  Yankee;   and  why  not  now  and 
then  a  stray  Welshman  ? 

The  Spaniards  have  begun  to  publish  a  history  of 
their  late  war  by  a  committee  of  officers  at  Madrid.  I 
have  a  French  translation  of  the  first  volume,  and  it 
appears  to  be  exceedingly  poor.  Two  odd  circum- 
stances relating  to  myself  lead  me  to  mention  it  now. 
They  boast  of  their  materials,  and  give  a  list  of  them, 
in  which  list  my  history  appears  before  it  is  written.  In 
the  body  of  the  work  they  adopt  an  observation  from 
the  "Edinburgh  Annual  Register,"  and  speak  of  the 
author  as  —  "  Un  journaliste  Anglais,  aiissi  connu  par 
V elegance  de  son  style,  que  par  la  justesse  de  ses  aper- 
qus,  et  I'independance  de  ses  idees."  And  the  note 
upon  the  passage  refers  to  "  Edingbourg  Review,  pre- 
mier volume,  premier  partie."  I  suspect  that  the  re- 
ference is  I'ight  in  the  original,  and  that  the  French 
translator  has  boldly  made  a  conjectural  emendation. 
But  putting  Velegance  out  of  the  question,  the  praise  is 
worth  having.  This  work  will  be  of  great  advantage 
to  me.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Friday,  Feb.  10.  1819. 

My  dear  G., 

Deliver  the  "Ode,"  if  you  please,  to  Shields, 
and  desire  him  to  accommodate  with  music  as  little  or 
as  much  of  it  as  he  pleases.  He  will,  probably,  choose 
the  second  and  last  stanza  ;  any  but  the  first,  which 
is  in  its  place  in  the  poem,  but  could  not  be  so  at 
Court. 


122  LETTERS   OP  1819. 

Willi  regard  to  your  proposal,  you  seem  not  to  have 
considered  the  situation  in  which  I  should  appear  were 
such  a  thing  to  take  wind  (as  the  phrase  is),  which 
most  assuredly  it  would,  concerning  the  manner  of  the 
ode  in  question.  I  cannot  say  that  I  think  the 
thing  worth  the  additional  waste  of  time  which  would 
be  required  to  defend  it ;  but  for  the  fitness  of  ex- 
pressing political  opinions  which  are  perfectly  in  unison 
with  those  of  the  Prince  and  his  Ministers,  as  pro- 
nounced by  him  in  his  speech,  and  by  them  in  the  mea- 
sures which  they  are  now  adopting,  I  can  have  no 
doubt.  My  opinion  is,  that  a  New  Year's  ode  should 
always  relate  to  public  circumstances ;  and  a  Birth  Day 
one  to  the  person  or  family  of  the  Prince  to  whom  it  is 
addressed.  When  the  latter  comes  upon  me,  I  shall 
lower  the  tone  to  the  subject.  As  long  as  I  can  help 
it,  I  will  never  suffer  any  of  these  compositions  to  get 
abroad.  This  is,  as  far  as  I  can,  lessening  the  folly  of 
the  custom,  and  preparing  the  way  for  its  abolition  ; 
for  you  may  be  sure,  it  is  generally  supposed  that  I  am 
not  called  upon  to  write,  as  my  predecessors  were.  If 
I  give  the  composer  more  trouble  than  poor  Pye  did,  I 
am  sorry  for  it ;  but  I  can  no  more  write  like  Mr.  Pye, 
than  Mr.  Pye  could  write  like  me.  The  Pye  crust  and 
mine  were  not  made  of  the  same  materials.  But  I  sup- 
pose there  can  be  no  more  difficulty  in  fitting  my 
rhythm  to  the  fiddle,  than  there  is  setting  an  anthem. 

I  am  not  so  much  out  of  the  world  as  you  imagine  ; 
but  know  more  of  political  intentions  and  opinions  in 
high  places,  without  seeking  it,  than  you  would  suspect, 
and  this  from  sundry  quarters.  And  this  reminds  me 
to  tell  you,  that  Brooksbank  is  acting  very  indiscreetly 
in  endeavouring  to  propagate  his  religious  opinions  by 
very  objectionable  and  offensive  means :  means,  indeed, 
so  offensive,  that  I  must  notice  them  in  the  *'  Q.  R." 
when  T  enlarge  the  paper  upon  "  New  Churches,"  as  I 


1819. 


ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  123 


am  preparing  to  do.  Of  course,  I  shall  not  hint  at  him, 
nor  shall  there  be  the  slightest  allusion  which  might  imply 
a  knowledge  of  the  offender  ;  but  it  is  a  strong  case,  and 
should  any  measure  be  brought  forward  to  prevent  the 
religion  of  the  country  from  being  insulted,  it  is  very 
likely  to  be  mentioned  from  the  Bench. 

At  present  I  am  reviewing  "  Marlborough,"  and  shall 
send  off  the  first  portion  to  Gilford  in  a  few  days  :  and 
I  am  going  on  with  "  Wesley"  in  good  spirits,  as  I  draw 
within  sight  of  the  end.  What  you  said  about  the 
King  set  my  thoughts  at  work  ;  I  planned  something 
which,  in  the  style  of  fiction,  will  more  resemble  Dante 
than  any  other  writer  :  of  the  manner  I  shall  say  no- 
thing till  there  is  a  good  specimen  ready,  which  may 
astonish  and  silence  you ;  at  the  same  time  I  have 
begun,  and  a)n  in  high  good  humour  with  the  design 
and  the  fashion  of  the  workmanship. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Feb.  27.  1819. 

My  dear  G., 

I  intend  to  call  my  boy  Cuthbert.  If  any  one 
asks  why,  it  is  reason  enough  that  I  like  genuine 
English  names,  and  such  as  are  peculiar,  without  being 
fantastic.  But  you  may,  for  your  own  satisfaction,  find 
the  secret  feeling  that  leads  me  to  choose  it  in  a  legend 
which  Wordsworth  has  versified,  as  an  inscription  for 
St.  Herbert's  Island.  So,  if  you  do  not  like  the  name 
(which  yet,  for  its  own  sake,  deserves  to  be  liked),  do 
not  object  to  it. 


12-1  LETTERS   OF  1819k 

I  have  seen  Wilson's  German  account  of  me  in  the 
newspapers.  Can  we  wonder  at  the  blunders  and  ex- 
aggerations with  which  biography  is  filled  ?  Much  per- 
sonal opportunity  of  knowing  me  he  has  not  had,  for 
I  could  not  tolerate  his  manner  of  life  enough  to  accept 
the  advances  which  he  made  towards  an  intimacy  ;  but 
he  must  have  heard  enough  of  me  from  those  who  knew 
me  and  my  habits  well;  and  yet  in  all  that  he  says 
about  my  allotment  of  time,  there  is  no  other  foundation 
of  truth,  than  that  when  I  could  not  afford  to  write 
poetry  at  any  other  time,  I  wrote  it  before  breakfast, 
and  counted  it  as  so  much  gained  from  sleep.  You 
will  easily  suppose  that  neither  flattery  nor  obloquy 
have  much  effect  upon  one  who  has  been  so  much  ac- 
customed to  both.  I  am  only  sorry  that  he  has  spoken 
in  such  absurd  terms  of  my  library,  which  is  only  ex- 
traordinarily good  in  relation  to  the  circumstances  of 
its  possessor.  The  letter  is  Germanish  enough,  in  all 
conscience  ;  but  he  forgets  his  assumed  character  when 
he  represents  me  as  making  puns  to  a  foreigner,  which 
would  be  throwing  pearls  before  swine. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  March  22.  1819. 

I  HAVE  had  a  New  Englander  here  lately  from  Lis- 
bon. He  tells  me  that  the  Academy  have  published 
two  more  volumes  of  the  "  Chronicas  Ineditas,"  —  the 
most  Irish  title,  surely,  that  ever  was  affixed  to  a  book  ! 
Your  opposite   neighbour,   Ant.    Robeiro   dos   Santos, 


1819.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  125 

died  last  3'ear.  Muller,  also,  is  dead.  Muller,  it  seems, 
has  translated  that  paper  of  mine  upon  Portuguese 
Literature  in  the  second  number  of  the  *'  Q.  R.,"  added 
some  notes  to  it,  and  printed  it  at  Hamburgh  for  private 
distribution  in  Portugal  ;  in  his  official  capacity  he 
must  have  prohibited  it.  If  I  could  have  foreseen  this, 
the  sketch  should  not  have  been  so  imperfect.  Some 
of  the  Portuguese,  I  hear,  spoke  of  my  "  Brazil  "  with 
great  interest,  —  wondering  how  the  materials  could 
possibly  have  been  collected,  and  expressing  a  great 
desire  that  it  should  be  finished.  They  will  wonder 
much  more  when  they  see  the  last  volume.  My  visitor 
saw  a  "ood  deal  of  John  Bell,  but  little  of  the  other 
English.  Verdier  is  living  in  a  garret  at  Paris,  without 
his  family,  —  poor,  and  broken-hearted. 

This  is  the  third  New  Englander  who  has  visited  me 
within  twelve  months  (I  had  met  one,  indeed,  at  Paris), 
and  two  of  them  are  by  far  the  most  accomplished  and 
intelligent  travellers  whom  I  have  ever  fallen  in  with. 
This  one  is  now  returning  home,  after  a  four  years' 
absence,  during  which  time  he  has  been  living  in  the 
best  society  that  France,  Italy,  Germany,  Spain,  Por- 
tu"'al,  and  England,  could  boast.  Another  of  them  is 
gone  to  Greece,  meaning  to  visit  Jerusalem  and  Egypt, 
and  probably  to  return  by  way  of  Constantinople  and 
Moscow.  They  have  been  buying  books  largely.  One 
of  them  has  sent  home  1000  volumes  ffom  Spain  — 
among  them  a  good  Catalan  collection.  Madrid,  it 
seems,  is  now  the  only  place  where  books  are  to  be 
found.  There  are  none  at  Seville,  nor  at  Cadiz,  nor  at 
Saragossa,  nor  at  Barcelona ;  and  Ijisbon,  which  was  so 
good  a  place  in  our  days,  has  been  drained  by  English 
purchasers.     The  famous  archives  of  Simancas*  have 

*  It  was  here  that  Plijlip  II.  ordered  the  archives  of  the  kingdom 
to  be  kept. 


126  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

at  last  been  put  in  order,  and  all  the  American  papers 
regularly  arranged,  from  Columbus's  first  commission. 
Among  these,  a  very  interesting  document  has  come  to 
light; — a  petition  from  Cervantes  for  a  place  in  America, 
with  a  detailed  account  of  sus  servicioS)  at  great  length. 
Montserrat,  he  tells  me,  is  in  no  respect  comparable  to 
Cintra  for  beauty  or  singularity.  I  was  glad  to  hear 
this.  A  masterly  edition  of  the  "  Fuero  Juzgo"*  has 
been  published.  I  know  a  channel  by  which  I  can  send 
for  this ;  and  by  the  same  means  I  shall  endeavour  to 
get  a  list  of  their  new  publications.  The  south  of  Spain 
is  dreadfully  unsafe ;  in  many  parts,  there  is  no  tra- 
velling without  an  escort. 

When  I  come  to  you  at  Worting,  if  you  could  get 
your  church  supplied  for  one  Sunday,  I  should  very 
much  like  to  go  round  the  Isle  of  Wight  with  you  ; 
starting  from  thence,  it  would  l)e  an  easy  excursion. 

You  have  extracts  from  some  Rio  almanacks. 
Where  were  those  almanacks  printed?  It  is  said 
in  the  "  Correio  Brazilierse,"  that  there  was  no  print- 
ing-press in  Brazil,  till  one  was  sent  from  England  in 
1808.  I  rather  think  there  would  be  one  for  printing 
almanacks  and  edicts,  though  it  was  not  used  for  any 
other  purpose.  My  concluding  chapter  must  be  a  sum- 
mary view  of  Brazil  at  the  time  of  the  removal,  and  I 
shall  get  to  it  in  the  course  of  a  week.  What  a  satis- 
faction to  be  so  near  the  end  ! 

Your  news  respecting  Walter  Scott  will  be  true  ere 
lonfT.  He  has  received  not  less  than  fourscore  thousand 
pounds  for  his  writings,  and  70,000/.  more  have  lately 
fallen  to  his  children  by  the  death  of  his  wife's  brother. 
But  I  very  much  fear  that  poor  Scott  will  not  long  live 
to  enjoy  his  honour  and  his  fortune.  For  the  last  two 
or  three  years  he  has  been  subject  to   cramps  in  the 

*  I  suppose  tills  to  be  the  Jlccnpilacion  de  las  LcT/es  dp.  las 
Wm-Godos  Espahnlcs.  par  J.  A.  Llorcute.    IMiidiuJ,  17!)2. 


1819.  liOBEIlT   SOUTIIEY.  127 

Stomach  —  a  disease  which  has  proved  fatal  to  several  of 
his  family.  My  Yankee  friend  left  him  under  one  of 
these  seizures.  They  have  already,  in  great  measure, 
broken  him  down  ;  so  that  he  is  said  to  have  grown  full 
ten  years  older  within  the  last  two,  and  he  is  become 
quite  grey,  though  a  light-haired  man,  who  had  not,  I 
think,  a  grey  hair  in  his  head  four  years  ago,  when  I 
saw  him  last.  I  am  very  sorry  for  this.  Scott  has  none 
of  the  bad  parts  of  the  Scotch  character.  He  is  a 
warm-hearted,  friendly,  generous  creature,  and  Fortune 
for  once  did  well  when  she  gave  him  the  golden  pap- 
spoon  at  his  birth. 

I,  of  the  wooden  spoon,  am  likel}^  to  become  popular 
in  New  England  by  my  next  long  poem.  That  poem 
is  now  in  a  fair  way.  I  have  begun  tlie  fourth  book ; 
and  always  the  further  I  get  on  a  jouruey,  the  faster  I 
travel.  I  like  the  conception.  I  am  not  dissatisfied 
with  the  execution,  as  far  as  it  has  gone.  Love  to  my 
aunt.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Neville  White,  Esq.,  ^-c. 

Keswick,  Maixh  26.  1819 

My  dear  Neville, 

I  had  long  entertained  the  hope  of  one  day  seeing 
you  in  that  situation  which  was  so  worthily  filled  in  old 
times  by  Sir  Richard  Whittington,  of  delightful  memory, 
and  of  going  by  your  special  invitation  to  the  Lord 
^Mayor's  dinner,  there  to  be  dieted  upon  turtle  and  veni- 
son, with  all  the  exquisite  &c.'s  of  the  city^  And  now 
I  must  be  content  with  turkey  and  tithe-pig  in  the 
county  of  Norfolk  !  See  from  what  a  height  of  expect- 
ant ion  your  letter  has  thrown  me  down.     Seriously,  my 


128  LETTERS    OF  1819. 

dear  Neville,  it  seems  to  me  like  a  dreamy — and  that, 
perhaps,  because  when  the  conduct  of  the  lady's  father 
is  looked  at  in  the  true  point  of  view,  there  is  more 
good  feeling  in  it,  and  good  sense  also,  than  are  usually 
met  with  in  real  life.  It  evinces  a  proper  disregard  of 
money,  and  a  right  judgment  of  your  principles  and 
disposition.  On  your  part  I  can  easily  understand  the 
repugnance  you  would  feel  at  giving  up  the  fair  esta- 
blishment which  you  had  formed  for  yourself,  and  in 
which  you  had  the  reasonable  prospect  of  acquiring  an 
honourable  fortune.  The  sacrifice  of  pride  (I  use  the 
word  in  a  good  sense)  which  you  have  thus  made  is,  I 
doubt  not,  properly  appreciated.  Upon  any  other  point 
you  should  have  a  cheap  dispensation  for  your  samples, 
if  I  were  a  Pope,  and  put  such  things  to  sale. 

The  change  in  the  pursuits  and  habits  of  your  life 
will  be  very  great,  but  you  are  not  too  old  for  it.  But 
when  you  enter  upon  your  new  studies,  take  heed  that 
you  do  not  pursue  them  too  closely,  nor  with  too  much 
anxiety.  You  may,  without  much  difficulty,  acquire 
as  much  as  is  necessary  for  your  purpose.  Do  not  be 
anxious  for  going  beyond  this,  lest  you  should  injure 
your  health.  You  may  push  your  studies  afterwards 
quietl}',  and  at  leisure ;  but  be  contented  at  first  with 
acquiring  merely  what  is  needful. 

I  send  you  half  a  letter  rather  than  not  write  by  re- 
turn of  post.  The  child  is  going  on  well, —  the  mother 
not  altogether  as  I  could  wish;  but  a  little  time,  we 
trust,  will  set  everything  to  rights.  I  am  closely  em- 
])loycd,  and  yet  shall  not  be  able  to  reach  London 
before  the  beginning  of  May.  When  do  you  leave  it  ? 
and  in  wiiat  part  of  the  land  of  turkeys  are  you  to  be 
fixed  ?  and  at  what  college  do  you  propose  to  enter  ? 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  Neville. 

Your  afiectionate  friend, 

IIOBERT    SOUTHEY. 


1819.  R0I5ERT    SOUTIIEY.  129 

To  John  Richnan,  Esq.,  §'c. 

Keswick,  April  30.  1819. 

My   DEAR   R., 

The  chest  of  oranges  occasioned  a  great  deal  of 
speculation  in  this  family ;  there  was  no  indication 
whence  it  came,  further  than  that  Liverpool  was  the 
place,  but  to  whose  good  works  it  was  to  be  set  down  we 
could  not  devise.  I  wish  Mrs.  R.  had  seen  the  children 
when  it  arrived.  I  was  expecting  a  box  of  books  from 
Milan  ;  they  called  me  down  with  news  that  it  was  come, 
which  to  them  was  a  great  joy ;  but  their  astonishment 
when  they  discovered  the  contents  would  have  made  no 
bad  subject  for  a  picture.  The  oranges  were  very  good, 
and  part  of  them  are  still  existing  in  the  form  of  mar- 
malade, the  first  specimen  of  my  daughter  Edith's  manu- 
factory in  this  kind. 

A  table  of  weights  and  measures  at  the  end  of  the 
book  will  save  me  the  trouble  of  frequent  calculations. 
I  never  mean  to  use  a  foreign  appellation  in  the  text, 
unless  it  has  been  previously  explained,  and  has  no 
equivalent  term  in  English,  which  must  very  often  be 
the  case. 

I  am  surprised  at  the  delay  of  the  "  Review." 

General  Craufurd  is  going  to  send  me  the  few  papers 
which  remain  of  his  brother's,  who  was  killed  at  Ciudad 
Rodrigo  ;  for  the  greater  part  were  lost  with  his  effects 
after  his  death.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


VOL.  III.  K 


130  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

To  Grostveywr  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Kopwlck,  May  5.  1819. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  can  neither  stir  from  home,  nor  do  anything 
else  (except  by  fits  of  relief)  till  the  "  Brazil  "  is 
finished ;  and  surely  never  did  any  task  so  grow  under 
the  workman's  hands.  The  reason  of  this  is,  that  it  was 
utterly  impossible  to  estimate  the  extent,  because  there 
existed  no  pi*evious  work  by  which  I  could  measure  my 
scale,  and  see  what  lay  before  me.  It  was  travelling  in 
an  undiscovered  country.  The  historical  part  is  finished. 
1  am  half-way  through  the  concluding  chapter,  which 
gives  a  view  of  Brazil  as  it  was  in  1808, — a  tremendous 
chapter,  both  in  length  and  labour.  But  I  have  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing,  now  the  task  is  so  nearly  com- 
pleted, that  there  does  not  exist,  in  this  or  in  any  other 
language,  so  full  an  account  of  any  country  from  the 
earliest  times,  of  its  rise,  progress,  geography,  the  man- 
ner of  its  aborigines,  and  its  actual  state  at  the  point  of 
time  when  the  writer  concludes,  as  I  shall  have  pre- 
pared of  Brazil ;  a  country  of  which  less  was  known 
than  of  any  other  (Central  Africa  alone  excepted)  which 
will  soon  be  of  the  greatest  commercial  importance  to 
Great  Britain,  and  is  in  a  fair  way  of  becoming  the 
greatest  country  of  the  New  World,  having,  I  think,  as 
much  to  hope  as  Yankee-land,  and  less  to  fear.  There 
is  yet  a  month's  work  more,  though  706  pages  are 
printed. 

You  are  right  concerning  the  monument.  I  ab/iomi- 
nate  allegory  in  stone.  Chantrey  is  to  make  a  bust  of 
Wordsworth  for  Sir  George  Beaumont.  I  saw  his  two 
children  in  the  exhibition,  and  preferred  them  to  the 
work  of  Canova  in  the  same  room. 

Dr.  Bell   has   sent   me  a  very   handsome  barometer. 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY,  131 

This  I  mention  because  it  has  been  vacillating  a  hair- 
breadth about  change  for  the  last  week,  and  the  weather 
all  the  while  as  fixed  as  Fate,  whence  I  conclude  that 
Dollond,  the  maker,  has  been  accustomed  to  make 
weather  glasses  for  the  Opposition.  I  have  nothing  else 
to  tell  you,  except  that  lately  I  had  a  rat  roasted  for 
supper,  which  was  very  good,  though  it  would  have 
been  better  had  the  rat  been  not  so  young.  It  was 
more  like  roasted  pig  than  anything  else.  Shedaw 
liked   it  much  ;  Sara  thought  it  not  amiss ;   but  as  for 

Mrs.  C ',  you  should   have  seen  her  face  when  we 

talked  of  it  at  breakfast. 

It  is  a  good  thing  for  me  that  Tom  is  so  near ;  his 
house  is  a  gun-shot  from  that  delightful  heck  in  New- 
lands  wherein  you  and  I  have  bathed ;  and  there  I 
shall  bathe  before  this  week  is  over,  if  the  weather 
continues  as  warm  as  it  is  now. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Messrs.  Longman  &■  Co. 

Keswick,  May  7.  1819. 
Dear  Sir, 

A   lucky  misapprehension   respecting    new  and 

old  Methodists  has  procured  me  some  very  interesting 

information  from  your  correspondent  Mr.  Keene,  upon 

a  subject  of  which   I   had   no  knowledge   before,   and 

which  is  of  much  importance  to  my  work.     I  enclose  a 

letter  which  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  get  franked 

to  him.     In  it  I  have  explained  to  him  what  further 

documents  I  require  from  Ireland. 

k2 


132  Letters  or  isio. 

I  hoped  to  have  been  in  London  at  this  time  ;  but 
there  has  been  a  succession  of  illness  in  my  family,  and 
the  "  History  of  Brazil "  has  grown  under  my  hands 
far  beyond  all  calculation,  owing  to  the  richness  of  my 
unprintcd  documents,  and  to  the  materials  which  have 
reached  me  while  this  volume  has  been  in  the  press. 
However,  we  are  printing  the  last  chapter,  —  a  long 
and  very  important  one,  —  containing  a  full  view  of  the 
present  state  of  Brazil.  It  would  have  been  worth 
100/.  if  I  had  transferred  it  to  the  "  Quarterly  Review." 
But  it  is  in  its  proper  place, —  the  fit  conclusion  of  a 
work  upon  which  my  reputation  hereafter  may  safely 
rest. 

"  Nichols's  Anecdotes  "  are  such  a  huge  store  of  ma- 
terials, applicable  to  many  works  which  I  have  in  hand 
and  in  mind,  that  I  must  keep  them.  Please  to  send 
me  the  "  Illustrations "  which  he  has  published  as  a 
sequel,  and  that  number  of  the  "  Pamphleteer,"  con- 
taining Koster  on  the  Slave  Trade,  which  I  must  refer 
to  in  my  "  View  of  Brazil." 

I  shall  be  getting  once  more  on  the  wrong  side  of 
your  books ;  for  during  the  last  half-year,  the  "Brazil" 
has  swallowed  up  almost  all  my  labour,  like  a  sinking 
fund.  But  "  Wesley  "  and  the  sale  of  *'  Paraguay  " 
will  bring  me  round ;  and  my  long  New  England 
poem  is  now  in  that  state  of  forwardness  that  I  begin 
to  calculate  upon  it. 

Yours  truly, 

R.    SOUTIIEY. 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  133 

To  Walter  Savage  Landur,  Esq. 

Keswick,  May  7.  1819. 

My  dear  Landor, 

Your  "  Ode"  has  been  put  in  the  right  course  : 
I  found  means  of  getting  it  delivered  to  the  Swedish 
Ambassador,  and  lie  will  transmit  it  to  Sweden.  This  I 
should  have  told  you  sooner,  if  I  had  been  in  spirits  for 
writing.  It  is  now  ten  weeks  since  a  son  was  born  to 
me,  and  it  is  only  within  the  last  three  days  that  I 
have  been  free  from  serious  anxiety  concerning  his 
mother.  Now  I  begin  to  breathe,  and  hope  all  will  be 
well. 

One  of  my  brothers,  a  sea-captain,  with  a  wife  and 
six  children,  is  come  to  live  within  four  miles  of  me,  — 
in  Newlands,  —  between  this  place  and  Buttermere. 
This  adds  much  to  my  enjoyments,  and  gives  me,  more- 
over, a  motive  to  wholesome  exercise  which  I  might 
otherwise  not  be  sufficiently  disposed  to  take.  He  has 
some  cows  there  upon  poor  land  :  and  at  the  bottom  of 
his  fields  runs  a  beck,  in  which  there  is  the  most  de- 
licious bathing  ;  natural  baths  of  all  depths,  and  seats 
where  you  may  act  the  river  god,  and  let  the  stream 
flow  under  your  arms,  and  over  your  shoulders  ;  no 
luxury  is  like  it  in  a  hot  summer's  day  ;  and  such  days 
are  already  beginning. 

Wordsworth  has  just  published  a  little  poem,  to  the 
tune  of  his  "  Idiot  Boy,"  and  of  the  same  pitch,  with 
fine  things  in  it,  and  a  prologue  which  you  will  be 
much  pleased  with.  I  told  him  what  you  said  of  his 
poem,  and  he  desires  to  send  you  this  when  an  oppor- 
tunity offers.  It  shall  travel  with  my  books,  when 
they  are  ready,  but  you  must  tell  me  how  to  direct 
them.  I  am  printing  the  last  chapter  of  *' Brazil," 
containing  a  view  of  the  state  of  the  country  at  the 

K   3 


134  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

time  when  the  history  concludes;  that  is,  when  the 
Court  removed  thither.  Of  the  new  states  which  are 
rising  in  the  world,  I  think  Brazil  is  likely  to  be  the 
greatest.  It  is  less  likely  to  fall  asunder  than  Yankee- 
land  ;  and  though  the  Brazilians  are  woefully  behind 
the  Yankees  in  everything  else,  they  have  a  sense  of 
honour  generally  prevailing  among  them,  which  the 
Anglo-Americans  seem  to  have  renounced.  Besides, 
the  tendency  of  Brazil  at  this  time  is  towards  improve- 
ment in  everything  ;  the  tendency  in  America  is  to  level 
down  everything  to  the  dead  flat  of  vulgar  ignorance  : 
they  wish  to  have  no  other  Master  of  Arts  than  he  who 
has  the  "  Ready  Reckoner"  at  his  finger's-end. 

I  have  seen  lately  three  young  American  travellers, 
all  singularly  accomplished  men,  from  New  England  ; 
two  of  them,  indeed,  among  the  most  accomplished  men 
in  fine  literature  whom  it  was  ever  my  fortune  to  meet. 
But  such  men,  who  would  do  honour  to  Old  England 
(and  for  that  reason  regard  the  mother  country  with 
admiration  and  reverence),  are  as  rare  in  America  as 
men  of  old  Roman  virtues  are  in  the  country  wherein 
you  are  sojourning.  Everything  tends  to  make  the 
Americans  merely  ephemeral  in  their  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings. They  have  no  classical  learning,  no  ancestry,  no 
antiquities.  Our  French  neighbours  are  fond  of  com- 
paring us  to  the  Carthaginians  ;  the  parallel  would  suit 
the  Americans  better,  for  their  commercial,  military, 
and  naval  skill,  their  boundless  ambition,  and  their 
want  of  literature.  New  England  is  infinitely  the  best 
part  of  America ;  there  the  people  are  becoming  more 
English  in  their  feelings  ;  and  it  is  not  a  little  singular, 
that  in  that  country  the  first  attempt  should  be  made 
for  introducing  religious  establishments. 

1  have  made  some  progress  in  my  New  England 
poem,  and  like  what  I  have  done.  The  swarm  of  imi- 
tative   poets  in   this  age    is  really  surprising,  and  the 


1819.  KOBEUT    SOUTHEY.  135 

success  with  which  they  imitate  their  models  would  be 
surprising  also,  if  it  did  not  prove  that  there  can  be  no 
great  difficulty  in  producing  what  may  be  imitated  so 
well.  Morbid  feelings,  atrocious  principles,  exagger- 
ated characters,  and  instances  of  monstrous  and  disgust- 
ing horror,  make  up  the  fashionable  compound  ;  the 
more  un-English,  un-Christian,  and  immoral,  the  better, 
provided  it  be  slavered  over  with  a  froth  of  philosophy.  I 
have  fewer  imitators  than  any  other  poet  of  any  notoriety ; 
the  reason  is,  that  I  am  less  fashionable  ;  and,  perhaps 
also,  that  I  am  less  a  mannerist.  To  make  up  for  this,  I 
am  favoured  with  more  abuse  than  all  the  rest  col- 
lectively. Wordsworth  comes  in  for  a  very  large  share, 
and  very  often  we  go  together.  If  my  name  be  found 
in  such  company  hereafter,  it  will  be  enough. 

You  are  mentioned  in  a  nevvspaper  essay  this  week 
(the  "  Westmoreland  Gazette"),  as  the  English  poet 
who  most  resembles  Goethe,  but  as  infinitely  his  supe- 
rior. I  do  not  know  enough  of  Goethe  to  judge  how 
far  this  assertion  may  be  right ;  but  a  writer  who  esti- 
mated you  so  justly  must  have  been  capable  of  estimat- 
ing him.  Oh,  that  you  had  been  as  incapable  of  writ- 
ing Latin  verse  as  i  am  !  God  bless  you. 

xv.   S. 


Tu  John  Richnan,  llnq.,  Jj-c. 

Keswick,  May  24.  1819. 

My  dear  R., 

From  three  to  four  portions  after  this  consign- 
ment will  bring  me  to  the  end  of  my  long  labour.  And 
then  I  set  my  face  southward  instanter.  You  see  that 
in  this  chapter  I  mix   up  general    matter  with  statistic 

K    4 


136  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

detail  for  a  double  purpose  :  what  is  true  of  the  pro- 
vince whereof  I  am  treating,  may  not  be  equally  true  of 
every  other,  and  it  reheves  the  heavier  matter.  The 
country  altogether  is  in  a  curious  state,  but  it  is  making 
marvellous  progress,  and  no  other  part  of  the  world 
requires  so  few  or  easy  alterations  in  its  institutions. 

So  the  ghost  of  Bullion  is  risen,  and  playing  the  devil 
•with  the  commerce  of  the  country.  We  must  build 
walls  again  to  run  our  heads  against  them.  This  is  a 
question  upon  which  I  go  with  Mr.  Cropper  and  Lord 
Stanhope, —  bad  company  both,  but  better  than  Hunt, 
Wooler,  the  BuUionists,  and  the  Gregrees,  —  all  acting 
odd  coalition  against  common  sense  and  the  practical 
men.  Whenever  a  question  of  political  economy  is 
mixed  up  with  abstractions  and  metaphysics,  it  is  a 
plain  proof  that  he  who  makes  the  hodge-podge  know^s 
nothing  about  the  matter.  I  look  to  much  immediate 
embarrassment  in  trade,  produced  by  this  measure,  and 
to  be  felt  sorely  in  next  year's  revenue,  by  which  time 
things  will  be  getting  right  again,  and  accommodate 
themselves  to  the  circumstances  of  the  money  market; 
and  I  suppose,  that  when  the  experiment  shall  have 
cost  the  bank  200,000/.  or  300,000/.  to  enrich  those 
who  trade  in  gold,  the  people  will  be  satisfied  that 
whatever  is  said  of  a  standard  of  value  is  sheer  nonsense; 
and,  as  Lord  Stanhope  maintained,  that  for  a  people  in 
our  step  of  civilisation,  gold  is  altogether  unnecessary. 
One  thing,  however,  may  be  taken  into  the  account, 
which  is  not  generally  known.  The  Brazilian  mines 
as  yet  have  only  been  scratched.  They  are  now  taking 
means  for  working  them,  and  in  all  likelihood  they  will 
very  soon  be  more  productive  than  ever.  With  the 
general  question  this  has  nothing  to  do,  but  it  may 
materially  concern  the  Bank. 

Remember  nic  to  Mrs.  R.      We  are  going  on  better. 

God  blebs  you. 

R.  S. 


1819.  KOBEIiT    SOUTHEY.  137 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  July  31.  1819. 

My  dear  G., 

When  you  go  to  Longman's,  I  wish  you  would 
use  your  judgment  in  choosing  a  binding  for  the  original 
MSS.  of  the  "  History  of  Brazil,"  which  is  on  its  way 
to  town,  in  a  parcel  directed  to  Osiris.  There  are  three 
volumes  of  the  "  History,"  and  two  of  collections  for  it, 
in  the  quartain  size.  The  collections  contain  a  good 
deal  of  matter  which  has  not  been  incorporated,  and 
will  therefore  be  of  use  hereafter.  Whether  there 
will  be  any  one  to  value  this  MSS.  as  an  heir-loom, 
God  knows.  There  will,  however,  be  those  who  would 
prize  it  as  a  bequest;  so  I  would  have  it  dressed  like 
something  which  is  likely  to  be  preserved.  You  know 
the  value  which  I  attach  to  this,  the  greatest  of  my 
labours.  I  shall  win  by  it  certainly  a  wider  and 
perhaps  a  more  lasting  reputation,  than  by  "  Roderick" 
or  **  Kehama." 

Wynn  has  told  me  of  Lord  Byron's  dedication  to  me. 
I  have  no  intention  at  present  of  noticing  it,  if  it  sees 
the  light;  but  if  it  should  sufficiently  provoke  me,  you 
may  be  assured  that  I  will  treat  him  with  due  severity, 
as  he  deserves  to  be  treated,  and  lay  him  open,  in  a 
live  dissection. 

Poor  Lloyd  will  send  you  a  packet  of  papers  to  be 
submitted  to  Gilford  for  admission  or  rejection,  as  he 
may  see  fit.  They  are,  I  believe,  reviews  of  some 
recent  poetical  works.  He  may,  very  likely,  be  de- 
ficient in  a  certain  manner  and  method  which  is  only 
acquired  by  practice  in  what  may  be  called  public 
writing;  but  in  tact  and  acuteness  of  observation,  he 
excels  most  men,  and  there  is  a  fervour  and  fluency  in 
his  prose  which  is  not  often  found  in  an  Eugli5h  writer? 


138  LETTEiis  or 


1819. 


—  reniiuding  one  indeed  of  Rousseau  and  of  Madame 
de  Stael.  If  GifFord  should  be  struck  by  his  specimens, 
well ;  if  not,  they  will  add  but  little  to  the  litter  of  his 
room,  and  no  harm  is  done. 

I  expect  a  summons  from  Rickman  about  the  10th 
of  August, — from  thence  for  six  or  eight  days.  Before 
that  time  I  shall  have  sent  off  the  remainder  of  my 
paper  upon  the  "  Monastic  Orders,"  part  of  which  will 
tickle  your  fancy.  How  I  long  to  take  up  that  subject 
upon  a  fair  scale  :  1  am  quite  certain  it  would  make 
one  of  the  most  curious  books  that  ever  was  written. 

Espriella  goes  with  me  to  the  Highlands,  and  having 
that  Journal  to  start  with,  I  shall  look  to  my  old  friend 
for  the  ways  and  means  of  next  year,  for  I  have  much 
to  say  upon  momentous  subjects  which  could  not  be 
brought  forward  in  any  other  shape. 

When  you  give  directions  about  binding  the  MSS. 
desire  them  also  to  bind  a  set  of  the  "Brazil"  for  my 
own  library,  and  do  you  choose  for  it  such  a  binding  as 
it  befits  the  historiographer  of  the  Tupinambas  to  have 
for  his  own  work  :  it  ought,  I  think,  to  be  as  magnifi- 
cent as  the  dress*  of  Manoel  Felix,  which  you  will  find 
faithfully  described  from  his  own  manuscript,  pp.  320. 
and  327.  of  the  last  volume.      God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

P.  S.  I  hear  that  "  Don  Juan"  is  published  without 
the  dedication.  I  should  like  to  know  who  has  sup- 
pressed it,  and  why  it  has  been  suppressed. 

*  "  It  consisted  of  a  full  dress  shirt,  red  silk  stockings,  breeches 
of  fine  green  cloth,  a  miner's  jacket  of  crimson  damask  lined  with 
silk  and  laced  with  riband;*,  morocco  shoes,  a  wig,  and  a  gold- 
laced  beaver  hat,  which  had  been  worn  at  tlie  espousals  of  D.  Jose, 
then  Prince  of  Brazil."    P.  320. 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTIIKY.  139 

To  John  King,  Esq.y  Clifton^  Bristol. 

Keswick,  June  30.  1819. 

My  dear  King, 

You  are  the  only  friend  I  have  in  the  world,  who 
never  sends  me  a  line  to  tell  me  of  his  goings  on  ;  and  it 
so  happens  that  I  never  by  any  accident  happen  to  hear 
of  you  through  a  third  person.  That  you  are  very  busy 
I  know,  and  so  am  I ;  of  my  occupations  indeed  you 
will  very  shortly  receive  a  substantial  proof;  but  before 
I  speak  of  that,  let  me  tell  what  provocation  induces  me 
to  address  you  at  this  time. 

A  lady,  for  whom  I  am  a  good  deal  interested,  is  at 
this  time,  and  will  be  for  three  or  four  weeks  more,  re- 
sident within  a  few  doors  of  you.  I  have  given  her 
reason  to  expect  that  you  will  call  upon  her  as  a  friend 
of  mine  ;  and  the  reason  why  I  have  done  so  is  this  : — 
she  is  an  invalid,  to  what  degree  I  know  not,  but  I 
know  the  value  of  your  advice ;  and  to  your  attention 
to  a  like  i-equest  of  mine,  Alstone  acknowledges  that  he 
is  indebted  for  his  life.  America  will  one  day  bear 
witness  how  well  that  life  was  worth  saving  ;  and  per- 
haps this  may  be  little  less  so,  for  this  lady  is  unques- 
tionably a  woman  of  genius.  My  acquaintance  with  her 
as  yet  has  only  been  through  the  medium  of  pen,  ink, 
and  paper;  so  you  mtiy  gratify  my  curiosity  by  telling 
me  what  kind  of  personage  she  appears ;  and  I  have  only 
to  tell  you  that  her  name  is  Miss  Bowles*,  and  that  she 
is  at  present  at  No.  19.  in  the  Mali  on  a  visit  to  some 
relation. 

And  now  a  few  words  concerning  myself:  I  have  a 
son,  three  months  old,  by  name  Charles  Cuthbert,  to 
all  appearance  a  strong  and  thriving  infant.      He  had 

*  Miss  Caroline  Bowles,  —  the  second  Mrs.  Southey. 


140  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

very  nearly  cost  his  mother  her  life,  and  she  has  had 
ever  since  the  birth  a  succession  of  complaints,  from 
which  she  is  not  yet  recovered,  thou<rh  I  trust  now  con- 
valescent. The  four  girls  are  well ;  Edith  as  tall  as  her 
mother.  I  am  hard  upon  the  close  of  my  forty -fifth  year, 
and  perceive  in  myself  certain  infirmities  connected  with 
decay.  My  father  reached  only  to  forty-eight;  my  mother 
only  to  fifty.  What  the  length  of  my  lease  may  be, 
God  knows,  and  I  have  no  other  solicitude  about  it  than 
to  make  the  best  use  of  it  while  it  lasts.  Six  years  would 
enable  me  to  complete  all  that  I  have  begun. 

One  great  work  is  drawing  fast  towards  its  completion. 
The  last  chapter  of  my  "  History  of  Brazil "  is  far  ad- 
vanced in  the  press,  and  in  the  course  of  a  month  you 
will  receive  the  concluding  volume;  a  work  of  prodigious 
labour  it  has  been,  this  volume  especially,  being  drawn  in 
great  part  from  manuscript  materials.  As  soon  as  the 
last  sheet  is  printed,  I  set  off  for  London,  where  I  shall 
remain  from  four  to  six  weeks.  Would  that  there  were 
any  likelihood  of  meeting  you  there  !  As  soon  as  I  re- 
turn, the  "History  of  the  Peninsular  War"  goes  to 
press.  Indeed,  the  main  reason  for  which  I  leave  home 
is,  to  see  some  papers  relating  to  it. 

My  brother  Tom  removed  into  my  neighbourhood 
this  spring,  and  is  now  settled  in  Newlands,  four  miles 
off :  a  most  b'-autiful  spot.  He  has  six  children  ! 
Hartley  Coleridge  has  lately  obtained  a  fellowship  at 
Oriel. 

The  "Life  of  Wesley"  stands  still  during  my  ab- 
sence. It  will  be  a  very  curious  book.  I  have  two 
poems  in  hand  :  one  a  full  length  narrative,  the  scene  in 
New  England  ;  the  other  will  form  a  single  small  volume, 
the  scene  in  Paraguay  ;  the  first  in  irregular  rhyme, 
passing  into  tlie  dramatic  form  occasionally  ;  the  second 
in  Spenser's  stanza.  I  am  tolerably  satisfied  with  both 
as  far  as  they  are  advanced. 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTnEY.  141 

"Write  to  me,  and  tell  me  of  yourself  and  your  family. 
I  hear  about  once  a  year  from  poor  Cottle  ;  otherwise  I 
should  have  as  little  present  connection  with  Bristol  as 
with  the  deserts  of  Arabia. 
Remember  me  to  Mrs.  King, 

And  believe  me  always 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  Sfc. 

Keswick,  Aug.  13.  1819. 
I  HAVE  written  a  paper  for  the  "  Quarterly  Review"  in 
the  course  of  the  last  month,  and  got  on  some  way  with 
the  second  volume  of  "  Wesley,"  upon  which  I  shall  set, 
tooth  and  nail,  as  soon  as  I  return.  If  this  book  should 
sell  as  it  ought  to  do,  which  I  am  very  far  from  expect- 
ino",  I  may  be  tempted  to  add  a  third  volume  upon  the 
progress  of  Methodism  from  Wesley's  death  till  the  pre- 
sent time.  Soon  after  his  death  a  schism  took  place 
among  his  followers  in  England,  because  the  minority 
insisted  upon  having  the  sacrament  administered  by 
their  own  unordained  preachers,  and  admitting  the 
people  to  a  full  share  in  their  chapel-government — 
church-government  I  will  not  call  it.  It  was  not  long 
before  the  whole  body  in  England  chose  to  take  the 
first  step.  But  recently  a  second  schism  has  occurred 
in  Ireland,  upon  the  opposite  ground:  the  old  Methodists 
insist  upon  adhering  to  the  Church  of  England  in  pur- 
suance of  Wesley's  design,  and  they  are  likely  by  law 
to  eject  the  other  from  the  meeting-houses.  An  oppor- 
tunity this  which  might  be  made  good  use  of,  if  the 


142  LETTEP.S    OF  1819. 

Bishops  had  courage  to  think  of  embodying  an  irregular 
force  in  their  own  defence. 

"What  a  difference  between  this  Bishop  of  London  and 
his  predecessor!  This  appears  to  be  one  of  the  kindest 
natured  men  in  the  world.  He  desires  to  introduce  me 
to  Herbert  Marsh  when  I  come  to  London  ;  if  Marsh 
were  as  pugnacious  in  conversation  as  he  is  in  his  writ- 
ings, he  would  be  the  very  last  person  I  should  wish  to 
meet. 

Have  you  heard  that  "  Don  Juan"  came  over  with  a  de- 
dication to  me,  in  which  Lord  Castlereagh  and  I  (being 
hand  and  glove  intimates  I)  were  coupled  together  for 
abuse  as  "  the  two  Roberts."  A  fear  of  persecution 
from  the  one  Robert  is  supposed  to  be  the  reason  why  it 
has  been  suppressed.  Lord  Byron  might  have  done 
well  to  remember  that  the  other  can  write  dedications 
also  ;  and  make  his  own  cause  good  if  it  were  needful, 
in  prose  or  rhyme,  against  a  villain,  as  well  as  against  a 
slanderer. 

Love  to  my  aunt  and  the  Orsini. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Oct.  13.  1819. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

My  absence  from  home  was  longer  than  I  had 
expected  :  it  reached  into  the  seventh  week.  I  went  as 
far  north  as  Fleet  Mound,  and  saw  the  wildest  part  of 
the  Highlands  in  crossing  from  Dingwall  to  Jeantown. 
If  these  roads,  bridges,  and  piers  had  been  constructed 
in  France  instead  of  Scotland,  or  if  the  canal  had  been 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTH  EY.  143 

one  of  Bonaparte's  works,  our  newspapers  would  have 
been  full  of  their  praises.  1  verily  believe  that  no 
Government  in  modern  times  ever  did  half  so  much  for 
the  improvement  of  its  dominions  as  has  been  done  in 
Scotland  within  tlie  last  fifteen  years. 

If  Parliament  should  be  convoked  before  Christmas, 
I  shall  not  see  you  till  we  meet  in  town.     But  I  doubt 
whether  Ministers  have  courage  to  convoke  it.     Their 
miserable  imbecility,  as  you  well  know,  is  such  that  they 
will  make  any  concession,  and  endure  any  evil  to  obtain 
a  respite  from  the  baiting  which  they  undergo  in  the 
House  of  Commons.     Never  was  there  a  time  when  we 
stood  more  in  need  of  an  efficient  Minister,  and  never 
was  there  a  more  irresolute  head,  nor  a  more  disjointed 
Administration  ;  none  of  the  members  having  any  con- 
fidence  in   each   other,   nor  in  themselves,  nor  in  the 
Regent.    And  as  for  the  Opposition,  it  is  plain  that  they 
would  make  common  cause  with  the  devil,  for  the  sake 
of  annoying  the  Prince,  and  embarrassing  the  Govern- 
ment.    I  know  not  which  is  most  wonderful,  the  blind- 
ness or  the  baseness  of  this  besotted  and  suicidal  party  ; 
but  this  I  know,  that  should  I  ever  be  under  the  knife 
of  the  Radical  Reformers,  it  would  be  some  satisfaction 
to  think  how  soon  these  abettors  of  all  mischief  would 
be  in  the  same  situation. 

Whatever  the  process  may  be,  I  do  not  doubt  that 
we  shall  lose  part  of  our  liberties  in  the  upshot.  The 
abuse  of  liberty  has  always  been  punished  by  its  loss. 
This  is  the  natural  and  just  consequence.  I  would  wil- 
lingly submit  at  once  to  such  restrictions  of  the  press  as 
the  times  require,  and  give  such  power  to  the  executors 
as  might  enable  it  to  meet  and  quell  the  danger.  The 
laws,  as  they  are  at  present  interpreted,  seem  only  to  pro- 
tect those  whom  they  ought  to  punish,  and  to  intimidate 
those  whom  they  ought  to  protect. 

When  I  was  at  Lisbon  in  the  year  1800,  there  was 


144  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

every  human  reason  for  expecting  that  the  yellow  fever 
would  be  communicated  to  that  city  from  Cadiz,  so  vio- 
lent was  the  contagion,  and  so  absurdly  inefficient  all 
means  that  were  taken  for  cutting  it  off.  The  people, 
however,  ate,  drank,  and  were  merry,  and  I  among  others 
went  on  quietly  with  my  usual  pursuits,  though  I  never 
laid  down  at  night,  without  thinking  it  likely  that  I 
should  hear  the  plague  had  appeared  among  us  in  the 
morning.  The  present  state  of  things  reminds  me  of 
what  my  feelings  were  then.  This  danger  also  may  pass 
away,  and,  in  spite  of  all  appearances,  I  cannot  think  it 
can  be  in  the  order  of  Providence  that  a  country  like  this 
should  be  brought  to  ruin  ;  but  it  is  upon  this  persuasion 
that  I  rely,  not  upon  the  strength  of  the  laws,  the 
measures  of  the  Government,  or  the  good  sense  of  the 
people. 

My  third  volume  has  been  provokingly  delayed, 
owing  to  the  loss  of  a  proof  sheet.  I  knew  nothing  of 
this  dvu'ing  my  absence.  I  shall  be  able  to  improve  the 
book  materially  for  a  future  edition  ;  though,  very  pos- 
sibly, it  may  not  be  reprinted  during  my  life.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  I  shall  carefully  correct  it,  and  insert  as 
much  additional  information  as  may  come  to  my  hands. 
I  have  just  received  one  manuscript  from  Brazil,  and 
another,  which  is  said  to  be  of  considerable  value,  is  on 
the  way  to  me. 

I  am  not  surprised  at  the  difficulty  you  find  in  form- 
ing a  Welsh  committee  in  London.  The  only  qualified 
person  whom  I  can  call  to  mind  is  Recs,  the  book- 
seller's brother,  who  is  a  Unitarian  minister.  Sharon 
Turner  is  either  too  much  an  invalid,  or  too  much  a 
hypochondriac,  to  be  capable  of  attendance.  The  diffi- 
culty about  the  publicans*  is  comical  enough,  and  not 


*  My  lamented  friend,  Copley  Fielding,  one  of  the  highest  prin- 
cipled men  lately  departed,  once  toW  me  that  the  great  brewers, 


1819.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEV.  145 

easily  to  be  got  over.  In  Portugal  two  of  the  first 
members  of  the  Royal  Academy  were  a  barber,  and  a 
man  who  kept  a  universal  shop,  more  like  a  huckster's 
than  anything  else ;  and  these  men  associated  at  the 
Academy  with  nobles  and  princes  of  the  blood.  But 
in  Portugal  a  nobleman  takes  snuff  with  his  servant, 
and  plays  at  cards  with  him.  You  must  make  your 
bishops  and  judges  patrons  and  presidents,  and  get  the 
work  done  without  any  more  personal  intercourse  than 
they  are  liable  to  in  the  ordinary  course  of  business. 

I  shall  now  be  getting  on  with  "  Oliver  Newman." 
Some  parts  of  this  poem  will  have  the  same  kind  of 
interest  for  a  New  Englander  that  the  first  part  of 
"  Madoc  "  has  for  a  Welshman,  who  is  conversant  with 
the  history  of  this  country.  The  fourth  book  in  par- 
ticular is  of  this  kind.  I  allude  in  it  to  Roger  Wil- 
liams, who,  take  him  for  all  in  all,  appears  to  me  one  of 
the  greatest  worthies  in  Wales ;  perhaps  the  greatest. 
And  who,  by  fair  desert,  is  really  entitled  to  that  high 
place  in  public  opinion  which  William  Penn  has  ob- 
tained rather  by  accident  than  by  right.* 

Your  godson  is  a  fine  creature,  —  large  enough  and 
strong  enough  for  one  of  the  race  of  the  giants.  The 
younger  ones  remember  your  roaring  well.  Their  elder 
sister  is  shot  up  till  she  is  as  tall  as  her  mother. 

Mr.  Clive  did  not  make  his  appearance.  He  pro- 
bably heard  at  the  inn  that  I  was  absent.  I  know  not 
what  is  become  of  Bedford.     There  is  a  paper  of  mine 

and  men  of  that  class,  were  some  of  the  artist's  best  friends.  And 
this  calls  to  my  mind  that  the  morning  after  I  had  purchased  the 
MSS.  of  the  Curse  of  Kehama,  at  the  sale  of  Southey's  library,  a. 
cheque  was  tendered  to  me  for  fifty  guineas  if  I  would  part  with  it- 
I  naturally  asked  "  Who  offered  such  a  sum  ?  "  The  answer  wai^, 
"  I   have   no  authority  to  mention   the    name,   but   it   is   one  of 

the  GREAT  BREWEKS  !  " 

*  See  Vol.  II,  p.  390.  of  these  Letters. 
VOL.  III.  L 


146  LETTERS    OF  1819. 

about  the  Catacombs  in  the  last  "  Quarterly,"  and  I 
have  corrected  for  the  next,  the  proofs  of  one  upon  the 
Monastic  Orders,  written  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
forward  Braybrook  House  at  the  end.    God  bless  you. 

Yours  affectionatel}^, 

Iv.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  October  18.  1819. 

In  nomine  Diaboli, 

What  is  become  of  you? 

I  have  a  great  mind  to  advertise  you  in  the  "  Hue 
and  Cry  "  as  lost,  stolen,  or  strayed,  with  a  description 
of  your  person,  taken  from  Nash's  portrait  down  stairs, 
and  aided  by  Mrs.  Coleridge's  recollections. 

Dumb  beast  is  an  expression  of  pity ;  but  dumb  dog 
is  an  appellation  of  reproach,  of  vituperation,  and  of 
wrath  ;  and  therefore  do  I  dumb  dog  thee ! 

I  will  abuse  thee  through  the  whole  Chris-cross  row. 

Abominable  Base  Bedford;  Careless  Correspondent ; 
Detestable  Dapple ;  Evil  Epistolist ;  False  Fellow ; 
Grievous  Grosvenor ;  Hateful,  Idle  Jackanapes ;  Kill- 
crop  ;  Lazy  Monster ;  Nasty,  Obstinate,  Pitiful,  Queer 
Rasjcally  Scarecrow  !  Terrible  Ugly  Villain  ;  Wicked 
Xecrable  Y'sacre  and  Zany  ! 

I  could  find  in  my  heart  to  send  for  Mrs.  Coleridge, 
and  ask  her  to  help  me  to  abuse  you. 

What !  is  the  manufactory  of  paper  at  a  stand  ?  are 
there  no  rags  among  the  radicals  to  supply  the  mills  ? 
Has  the  dry  season  parched  up  all  the  ink  in  the  South  ? 
O]-,  have  the  geese  and  ganders  entered  into  a  resolu- 
tion to  grow  no  more  quills,  as  the  reformers  have  done 
to  drink  no  more  gin  ? 


1819.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  147 

Well,  thought  I  at  Glasgow,  as  there  is  no  letter 
from  Bedford  here,  I  shall  find  one  when  I  reach  home. 
And  I  have  been  at  home  more  than  a  fortnight,  —  and 
whether  Bedford  is  above  ground  or  below,  in  England 
or  in  France,  or  half  seas  over,  I  know  no  more  than 
the  man  in  the  moon. 

It  happens  oddly  enough  that  I  am  as  much  in  the 
dark  about  everybody  else  in  London,  and  all  my  own 
concerns  there,  as  about  you,  —  not  having  received  a 
single  letter  from  thence  since  my  return.  I  found  a 
parcel  from  Gifford,  which  was  a  month  old.  The  date 
gave  me  a  good  plea  for  declining  to  write  a  paper  on 
the  state  of  affairs,  as  he  wished  me  to  do.  Of  what 
use  is  it  to  prescribe  drastics  when  a  parcel  of  old  women 
are  afraid  to  administer  them  ?  And  as  for  alteratives, 
they  may  be  given  with  better  effect  than  another  me- 
dicine in  the  "  Q.  R."  However,  I  have  not  been 
idle.  Lord  Lonsdale  has  been  with  me  about  an  Ad- 
dress, and  I  have  endeavoured  to  impress  upon  him  the 
necessity  of  two  measures, —  the  repeal  of  Mr.  Fox's 
law  of  libel,  and  making  transportation  the  punishment 
of  sedition  and  blasphemy.  I  told  him  also  that  there 
would  be  no  more  difficulty  in  carrying  whole  measures 
tlian  half  ones;  the  opposition  will  be  just  as  violent 
against  one  as  against  the  other.  The  Address  originated 
here  with  Calvert  and  myself;  but  this  is  between 
ourselves. 

Monday^  Oct.  18. —  I  see  by  this  day's  paper  that 
Lord  Somerville  is  dead.  His  life  might  have  been 
thought  a  better  one  than  mine.  Some  years  ago  he 
sold  the  property  which  is  entailed  upon  me  ;  and  I 
believe  it  is  not  worth  the  trouble  of  litigation,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  expense.  However,  I  must  inquire 
into  it. 

In  justice  to  my  daughter.  Bertha,  I  must  tell  you 
that  when  she  heard  my  abecedarian  interpretation  of 

L    2 


148  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

your  abominableness,  she  said  it  was  a  shame,  and  that 
h  was  not  riglit  to  send  it.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Oct.  27.  1819, 

My  dear  G., 

I  am  really  glad  to  see  your  handwriting  once 
more,  after  so  long  an  interval,  for  I  was  beginning  to 
fear  some  mishap. 

The  history  of  the  *'  Address"  (no  doubt  the  one 
which  you  have  seen  in  the  *'  M.  Chronicle")  is  some- 
what curious,  and  would  furnish  no  bad  topic  for  that 
amiable  newspaper,  if  it  knew  all.  The  story  is  briefly 
this: — James  Brougham  wrote  to  Calvert  to  join  in 
the  requisition  for  a  meeting  to  censure  the  massacre 
at  Manchester,  &;c.  Calvert  not  only  refused  to  act 
with  his  old  party  on  this  occasion,  but  came  to  me,  ex- 
pressed his  desire  that  some  counter-declaration  might 
be  set  on  foot,  and,  in  short,  asked  me  to  draw  up  an 
"Address;"  I  did  so,  and  sent  it  to  Lord  Lonsdale. 
Lord  Lonsdale  rode  over  the  next  day,  called  on 
Calvert,  brought  hiin  on  to  me,  and  suggested  some 
alterations,  which  were  of  course  made.  lie  then  had 
the  "  Address"  printed  and  circulated.  Tins  was  at 
the  end  of  the  week.  On  Tuesday  he  called  on  me 
again,  on  his  way  to  Whitehaven,  and  asked  me  to 
spend  a  day  or  two  with  him  there,  as  he  had  been  dis- 
appointed of  seeing  me  at  Lowther  when  Prince  Leo- 
pold was  there.  So  I  promised  to  go  the  next  day,  for 
1  had  never  been  to  Whitehaven,  and  was  glad  of  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  it,  while  discharging  a  visit  wliich 


1819.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  149 

had  long  been  due.  On  the  Wednesday  morning  came 
a  letter  from  Lord  Lonsdale,  enclosing  one  from  Wal- 
lace ;  a  wordy  epistle,  objecting  to  the  "  Address,"  as 
too  strong.  Lord  Lonsdale  said  he  could  not  act  in 
opposition  to  the  opinion  of  the  only  gentleman  of  the 
county  who  was  connected  with  the  administration,  and 
had  therefore  withdi-awn  mine  ;  but  he  should  see  me 
in  the  course  of  the  day.  I  went  over  accordingly,  and 
found  that  Wallace  had  produced  an  "  Address"  him- 
self, which  was  substituted  for  mine.  You  know  me 
well  enough  to  know  that  this  was  a  matter  of  perfect 
indifference  to  me  ;  so  the  thing  was  done,  I  cared  not 
who  did  it ;  Lord  Lonsdale,  however,  had  the  disagree- 
able task  of  calling  together  more  than  fifty  persons, 
who  had  already  signed  the  first  paper,  and  making  a 
speech  to  them  about  the  propriety  of  exchanging  it  for 
another,  in  more  guarded  language.  Lord  Lonsdale  is 
a  very  sensible  man,  and  one  of  the  most  obliging  men. 
Wallace  is  a  pompous  fellow,  always  swelling,  like  the 
frog  in  the  fable,  and  affecting  to  give  himself  an  ap- 
pearance of  consequence  by  means  which  are  quite 
farcical.  It  is  certain  that  some  few  persons,  besides 
himself,  objected  to  the  wording  of  my  Address  (ob- 
serve, no  one  knew  it  to  be  mine  except  Lord  Lons- 
dale), but  it  would  have  passed,  had  it  not  been  for 
him  ;  his  vanity  was  wounded  ;  and  he  did  not  stop  to 
recollect,  that  even  if  the  first  paper  had  been  in  some 
points  objectionable,  it  was  better  to  retain  it,  than  give 
the  enemy  an  advantage  by  withdrawing  what  had  been 
once  put  forth.  But  the  truth  is,  that  I  had  stated 
nothing  more  than  what  is  borne  out  by  notorious  facts 
published  in  all  the  newspapers.  And  so  far  is  the 
manner  of  stating  it  from  being  objectionable,  that 
while  I  was  at  Whitehaven,  there  came  a  letter  from 
Becket,  saying  that  it  had  been  shown  to  tlie  Privy 
Council,  and   highly  approved  of.      On  my  return,  I 

L  3 


150  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

found  a  letter  from  Lord  William  Gordon  (to  whom  I 
liad  sent  a  copy  for  his  signature),  dated  at  the  Pavilion, 
and  saying  he  had  good  reason  to  think  it  would  be  most 
graciously  received  by  the  Prince;  and,  lastly.  Lord 
Lonsdale  has  sent  me  a  second  note  from  Becket,  say- 
ing that  this  unlucky  "  Address"  is  thought  to  be  the 
best  which  has  yet  appeared.  The  end  of  all  this  will 
be,  that  the  mob  journals  in  this  country  will  harp 
upon  the  subject  till  Parliament,  or  an  insurrection  in 
the  meantime,  afford  them  a  fresher  topic.  That  T 
shall  get  plentifully  bespattered  with  abuse,  if  my  part 
in  the  business  transpires  (as  I  dare  say  it  will)  ;  that 
Wallace  will  undergo  some  quizzing,  in  London,  from 
Lord  Lonsdale's  friends,  for  having  set  aside  a  paper 
which  had  at  least  the  merit  of  attracting  notice,  to 
substitute  a  lathery  composition  of  his  own  ;  and  that 
all  this  signifies  nothing,  hurts  nobody,  and  will  pre- 
sently be  forgotten.  I  should  tell  you,  that  while  I 
was  at  Whitehaven,  a  hand-bill,  in  abuse  of  the 
first  Address,  was  circulated,  and  that  by  Lord  Lons- 
dale's desire  I  took  advantage  of  this  hand-bill  to 
vindicate  it.  What  I  wrote  was  to  appear  in  the 
''  Cumberland  Packet"  of  yesterday,  under  the  signa- 
ture of  *'  A.  B.  :"  if  I  had  the  paper,  I  would  send  it 
you,  for  it  has  some  good  things. 

Government  will  carry  all  its  measures  without  diffi- 
culty. My  fear  is,  that  they  will,  with  their  usual  irre- 
solution, content  themselves  with  half  measures,  when 
they  might  carry  whole  ones  just  as  well.  And  it  will 
not  surprise  me,  should  there  be  something  like  an  ex- 
plosion before  the  new  laws  can  be  passed.  For  my- 
self, I  am  in  good  heart :  the  danger  is  now  so  close, 
that  I  think  I  can  see  beyond  it. 

A  circular  letter  about  poor  Page's  family  has  reached 
me  by  this  day's  post.  Pay  five  pounds  for  me  to  the 
subscription  ;  and,  as  you  know  Edmund  Goodenough, 


1819,  EGBERT    SOUTIIEY.  151 

perhaps  you  will  let  him  know  that  I  have  received  the 
letter  ;  and,  in  phrase  as  courteous  as  you  please,  that 
I  suppose  no  other  answer  is  necessary.  I  am  glad  the 
subscription  has  been  opened,  and  you  can  bear  witness 
that  the  largest  contribution  upon  the  list  is  not  likely 
to  be  larger  in  proportion  to  the  means  of  the  giver 
than  mine. 

When  you  have  any  money  for  me,  I  shall  be  glad 
of  it. 

Henry  ought  to  lie  by.  I  know,  that  at  Yarmouth 
cod-liver  oil  is  thought  specific  in  cases  of  lumbago  ; 
but  it  is  an  infernal  medicine  in  the  mouth.  I  believe 
I  should  follow  the  Indian  fashion,  and  have  myself 
stewed  in  a  vapour-bath. 

You  have  got  off  well  from  your  robbery.  When 
one  has  anything  to  do  with  ugly  fellows  in  these  days, 
it  is  lucky  to  come  off  with  one's  life. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Rickman,  Esq. 

Oct.  29.  1819. 

My  dear  R., 

Thank  you  for  the  Parliamentary  Proceedings. 

I  send  you  up  a  second  Cumberland  Address  for  Lord 
William  Gordon's  signature.  The  first  (which  was 
from  my  mint,  and  which  you  may  have  seen  in  the 
papers  as  given  with  Mr.  Brougham's  comment  at  the 
Kendal  meeting)  has  been  withdrawn,  that  Mr.  Wallace 
might  substitute  a  lathery  composition  of  his  own ; 
meantime,  comically  enough,  the  first  had  been  {inter 
nos)  shown  both  to  the  Prince  and  to  the  Cabinet,  and 

L    4 


152  LETTERS    OF  1819. 

pronounced  to  be  the  best  which  had  yet  been  sent 
forth.  It  had  however  been  weakened  at  the  conclu- 
sion, whichj  as  it  originally  stood,  ran  thus  :  "  Trusting 
that  if  the  existing  laws  be  insufficient  to  curb  the  au- 
dacious spirit  of  blasphemy  and  treason,  new  ones  will 
be  adopted,  consistent  with  the  tenor  of  the  constitu- 
tion, and  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  these  distempered 
times." 

Lord  Somerville's  death  will  give  me  some  trouble, 
whether  it  will  give  me  anything  else  Heaven  knows. 
Part  of  the  property  which  he  derived  from  his  mother 
was  entailed  upon  my  father  and  his  heirs.  Lord  Somer- 
ville  sold  this  some  years  ago,  and  I  have  now  to  recover 
it  if  I  can.  The  elder  line  of  the  Southeys  is  extinct 
in  him,  the  name  had  been  so  for  three  generations.  The 
whole  property  which  he  inherited  from  his  mother  was 
about  a  thousand  a  year;  but  how  much  of  this  I  can 
claim  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  meaning  of  a  will, 
which  has  been  pronounced  to  be  one  of  the  most  un- 
intelligible that  ever  came  into  a  court  of  law. 

By  this  time  I  trust  you  have  received  the  completion 
of  my  Opus  Magnum.     God  bless  you. 

It.  S. 


To  The  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  8{C. 

Keswick,  Oct.  30.  1819. 

I  HAD  a  great  disappointment  yesterday  in  Mr. 
Burns's  parcel :  instead  of  containing  a  manuscript  his- 
tory of  Para,  its  contents  proved  to  be  the  "  Corografica 
Brazilica  of  Cayal,"  a  copy  of  which  you  had  previously 
procured.  The  same  package  brought  my  third  volume, 
—  a  welcome  sight  as  you  may  well  suppose. 


1819. 


ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  153 


Lord  Somerville's  death  will  give  me  some  trouble, 
and  may  very  probably  lead  me  into  a  lawsuit,  which 
of  all  things  in  the  world  I  abhor  the  most.  My  poor 
Aunt  Mary  is  all  alive  with  hope.  I  have  a  letter  from 
her  by  this  post.  She  talks  of  different  farms,  worth  in 
all  about  a  thousand  a  year ;  but  I  have  reason  to  believe, 
from  some  inquiries  which  I  made  after  John  Southey's 
death,  that  the  only  part  of  the  property  which  was  en- 
tailed upon  my  father  was  some  land  about  the  house  at 
Fitzhead,  and  that  held  only  for  a  lease  of  99  years, 
about  half  of  which  term  must  be  expired.  Unluckily 
my  extract  from  the  will,  with  an  opinion  annexed  to  it, 
which  Turner  got  for  me  from  Mr.  Bell,  is  mislaid 
among  my  multifarious  papers.  I  have  written  to  know 
if  the  Doctor  has  one  ;  —  if  he  has  not,  he  must  apply 
to  Doctors'  Commons.  Lord  Somerville  sold  the  pro- 
perty some  years  ago,  but,  with  respect  to  this  part  of  it, 
the  purport  of  the  will  is  explicit,  and  my  remedy  would 
be  an  action  against  the  tenant,  whoever  he  may  be. 
Were  I  a  single  man  I  believe  I  should  rather  leave  him 
in  quiet  possession,  than  disturb  myself  with  the  trouble 
and  care  which  litigation  must  bring  with  it,  to  say 
nothing  of  expenses  which  I  can  very  ill  afford. 

My  Aunt  Mary  has  found  out  that  her  grandmother 
was  a  relation  of  Locke,  and  bore  the  same  name.  She 
seems  pleased  with  this,  as  supposing  that  it  will  gratify 
me  to  find  so  great  a  man  in  the  family.  But  as  I 
happen  to  agree  with  Stillingfleet  concerning  Mr.  Locke's 
metaphysics,  and  with  Dean  Tucker  concerning  his 
politics,  all  the  respect  I  have  for  him  is  for  his  per- 
sonal character.  However  it  is  pleasant  to  hear  of 
somebody  between  oneself  and  Adam  who  has  left  a 
name. 

I  have  been  passing  a  few  days  with  Lord  liOnsdale 
at  Whitehaven.  He  is  a  remarkably  obliging  man,  and 
I  feel  quite  at  ease  in  his  family.     There  is  a  comical 


154  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

Story  about  the  Cumberland  Address.  It  originated 
here,  with  my  neighbour  Calvert  and  myself.  I  sent  it 
to  Lord  Lonsdale,  and  he  came  over  to  me  immediately, 
suggested  some  trifling  alterations,  and  then  circulated 
it.  I  am  so  little  known  in  this  country,  that  no  sus- 
picion was  entertained  of  the  hand  from  which  it  came, 
and  Mr.  Wallace,  who  is  very  pompous  and  farcically  im- 
portant, being  hurt  that  such  a  thing  should  come  from 
anybody  except  himself,  objected  to  the  form  of  the 
Address,  and  produced  one  of  his  own  in  its  stead,  which 
—  he  beingaPrivy  Councillor  —  was  of  course  adopted, 
and  the  former  one  withdrawn.  Meantime  the  first  had 
gone  to  London,  had  been  shown,  /  believe,  to  the 
Prince,  and  I  know  to  the  Privy  Council,  and  had  there 
been  pronounced  to  be  the  best  which  had  yet  appeared. 
A  more  lathery  composition  than  that  which  had  been 
substituted  you  never  read.  At  Lord  Lonsdale's  desire 
I  wrote  a  newspaper  vindication  of  the  first,  and  I  am 
now,  through  the  same  channel,  and  under  the  same 
signature  of  A.  B.,  going  to  give  B.  a  dressing  such  as 
he  deserves,  for  the  manner  in  which  he  has  misrepre- 
sented it. 

We  are  all  in  tolerable  health.     Love  to  my  aunt 
and  the  children.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Dr.  II.  11.  Southey. 

Keswick,  Nov.  1.  1819. 

My  dear  Harry, 

I  have  a  long  letter  from  good  Aunt  Mary,  who 
expects  that  Lord  Somerville's  death  has  opened  the 
way  for  me  to  a  comfortable  inheritance,  longs  to  show 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTDEY.  155 

me  the  different  farms,  and  hopes  that  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  summon  her  to  London,  as  the  person  best 
acquainted  with  the  circumstances  of  Canon  Southey's 
will. 

My  own  persuasion  is,  that  what  I  am  entitled  to  is 
so  little  as  hardly  to  be  worth  contending  for.  The 
whole  property  she  estimates  at  about  1000/.  a  year. 
I  believe  the  remainder  of  one  estate,  held  for  99  years, 
is  all  that  was  entailed  upon  my  father.  It  was  the 
most  perplexed  will  that  ever  came  before  the  lawyers. 
However,  I  wish  you  would  go  to  Doctors'  Commons, 
see  the  will,  and  obtain  a  copy  of  the  whole,  if  neces- 
sary, or  of  such  parts  of  it  as  concern  the  property  de- 
vised to  Lord  Somerville,  and  entailed,  in  default  of  his 
issue,  upon  the  Southeys.  Perhaps  you  had  better 
call  upon  Turner  on  the  way,  and  consult  with  him,  as, 
if  there  are  to  be  any  law  proceedings,  I  shall  commit 
myself  with  perfect  confidence  to  his  directions.  Lord 
Somerville,  I  know,  sold  the  whole  of  his  Somersetshire 
property — some  of  it  certainly  with  a  bad  title.  But 
I  will  enclose  my  aunt's  letter,  that  you  may  see  what 
she  says,  and  then  you  will  know  almost  as  much  of  the 
matter  as  I  do. 

If  my  aunt  sends  the  deed  of  trust  for  her  money, 
for  our  signatures,  do  you  give  it  to  Bedford,  and  desire 
him,  if  he  cannot  obtain  an  official  frank  for  it,  to  ask 
Hickman  so  to  do. 

Philpotts  has  just  sent  me  his  "  Letter  to  the  Free- 
holders." It  is  very  well  written.  Lambton  seems  to 
be  doing  all  he  can  to  earn  for  himself  the  character  of 
the  most  intemperate  man  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
As  the  Opposition  used  to  wish  for  just  so  much 
national  misfortune  and  disgrace  as  would  bring  them 
into  office,  so  I  could  find  in  my  heart  to  wish  for  just 
as  much  radical  reform  as  would  reach  the  roots  of  his 
property,  if  the  mischief  could  affect  none  but  him,  and 


156  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

such  as  him.  Concerning  the  immediate  clanger,  I  have 
as  few  fears  as  any  man.  Government  will  have  the 
active  support  of  the  Grenvilles  and  the  acquiescence 
of  those  Whigs  who  are  not  beyond  the  reach  of  helle- 
bore. If  there  be  an  insurrection,  which  is  likely 
enough,  it  will,  I  tliink,  be  presently  quelled.  What 
measures  are  intended  by  Ministers  I  do  not  know.  I 
dare  say  they  will  be  strong  enough  to  raise  a  great 
uproar,  and  not  strong  enough  to  be  of  any  permanent 
advantage ;  for  if  they  suffer  the  press  to  be  employed 
against  all  our  institutions,  as  it  has  been  for  some 
years,  no  government,  no  institutions,  can  possibly 
stand  against  it.  Without  some  efficient  restrictions 
upon  this  engine  of  all  evil,  all  other  measures  must  be 
nugatory.  The  evil  will  seem  to  be  suspected  just  as 
long  as  the  Habeas  Corpus,  and  no  longer.  Humanly 
speaking,  the  prognosis  is  as  unfavourable  as  it  well  can 
be,  though  there  is  no  immediate  danger  of  political 
dissolution ;  but  I  have  a  comfortable  reliance  upon  the 
order  of  Providence,  and,  notwithstanding  all  appear- 
ances, believe  that  we  shall  be  saved  in  spite  of  our- 
selves. 

You  will  see  that  Aunt  Mary  claims  kin  with  Locke 
for  us.  I  wish  it  had  been  somebody  for  whom  I  had 
more  respect. 

I  have  got  my  third  volume,  and  the  M^ell-bound 
MSS.  What  a  satisfaction  to  see  that  work  completed  I 
A  proof  of  *•  Wesley  "  is  on  the  table.  Love  to  Louisa 
and  Mrs.  Gonne.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  157 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  6.  Nov.  1819. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

The  relationship  between  myself  and  Lord 
Somerville  was  so  remote,  that  I  really  do  not  know  in 
what  degree  of  cousinship  we  stood  to  each  other ; 
but  his  mother  was  of  Southey  extraction,  and  on  that 
side  I  was  his  nearest  kinsman.  A  certain  Canon 
Southey,  of  Fitzhead,  in  Somersetshire,  bequeathed  his 
estates  to  him,  in  his  childhood,  as  his  nearest  relation, 
and  entailed  a  part  of  them,  in  case  of  his  dying  with- 
out issue,  upon  my  father  and  his  two  brothers,  and 
their  issue  male.  The  whole  estates  are  about  a  thou- 
sand a  year;  whether  the  part  which  is  entailed  be 
worth  contending  for  is  very  doubtful.  Lord  Somer- 
ville sold  the  whole.  With  this  part  he  could  not  pos- 
sibly convey  a  good  title,  unless  he  had  had  a  son  of  age 
to  join  with  him  in  cutting  off  the  entail.  My  action 
would  be  against  the  present  tenant — his  against  Lord 
Somerville's  representatives.  I  know  just  enough  of 
the  business  not  to  be  disappointed  if  I  am  advised  to 
let  it  rest.  It  was  a  most  miserable  will,  never  out  of 
Chancery  while  my  two  uncles  were  living.  Lord 
Erskine  had  it  brought  before  him,  and  exclaimed  at 
the  name,  for  he  remembered  it  when  he  was  young  at 
the  bar.  I  have  desired  Osiris  to  consult  with  Turner, 
and  as  Turner  may  advise,  so  I  shall  do. 

In  the  year  1790  or  1791,  when  my  father  was  a 
ruined  man,  a  person  called  upon  him,  and  offered 
to  treat  with  him  for  the  purchase  of  his  remainder. 
My  father  was  too  angry  at  the  proposal  to  inquire 
who  sent  him.  He  always  believed  that  his  children 
had  tliis  chance   in  the  lottery  of  life,   and   1    believe 


158  LETTERS   OF 


I819« 


common  opinion  in  Somersetshire  has  always  magnified 
that  chance  much  beyond  its  real  value,  if  it  be  now  of 
any  value. 

To  myself  it  is  of  very  little  consequence.  My 
habits  of  labour  are  so  fixed,  that  whether  I  wrote  for 
a  subsistence  or  not,  I  should  be  just  as  deeply  en- 
gaged in  the  press ;  and  the  only  difference  would  be 
that  I  should  give  up  reviewing,  and  become  perfectly 
indifferent  to  the  sale  of  my  books  as  a  matter  of  profit. 
I  am  older  in  constitution  than  in  years,  and  older  in 
heart  than  in  constitution  ;  and  I  believe  that  if  it 
were  not  for  my  children,  I  should  not  bestow  even 
the  thought  that  a  mere  inquiry  occasions  concerning 
any  worldly  inheritance.  Six  feet  by  three  on  the 
NW.  side  of  Crosthwaite  Churchyard,  will  be  a  suffi- 
cient estate  for  me. 

Do  not,  however,  imagine  that  I  am  out  of  spirits. 
I  may  live  to  do  good  service ;  and  ten  years  more  of 
health  and  tranquillity  would  enable  me,  I  dare  aver  to 
you,  to  do  more  as  an  historian  than  has  ever  been  done 
by  any  man  before  me  ;  for  I  have  great  plans  and 
great  preparations.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  JlickmaUj  Esq.,  8fc. 

Keswick,  Nov.  15. 1819. 

My  dear  R., 

I  have   hit   upon  the  original  meaning  of  Tag, 
Rag,  and  Bobtail. 

In  Derricke's  "  Image  of  Ireland,"  written  in  Eliza- 
betli's  reign,  are  tliese  lines: — 


1819.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  159 

"  Eche  knave  will  playe  the  cooke 
To  stande  his  Lorde  in  steede, 
But  Tagge  and  Ragge  will  equal  be 
When  chiefest  rebell  feede." 

And  upon  this  passage  there  is  a  happy*  marginal 
note  which  says,  "  Master  and  man  all  one  at  eating  of 
meat."  Tag  therefore  is  the  master,  as  wearing  tagged 
points  ;  Rag  the  man  ;  and  Bobtail  sayis  doubt  is  the 
dog. 

Mrs.  R.  will  please  to  give  my  gigantic  remem- 
brances to  Willey  the  charioteer  and  Francofurte.  I 
e,rpose  I  shall  soon  be  required  to  enclose  a  note  of 
thanks  from  Edith  to  Miss  Emma. 

I  have  had  a  pressing  application  from  Murray  le 
Magne,  to  write  de  temporibus  pro  "  Quarterly  Re- 
view," the  said  greatest  of  all  journals  being  in  danger 
of  appearing  without  anything  upon  the  subject  to  the 
great  distress  of  the  said  greatest  of  all  great  men  !  My 
reply  was  that  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  undertake  it 
for  want  of  time  ;  and  I  followed  the  decisive  reply  by 
a  protest  against  the  castrating  system  which,  in  spite  of 
all  promises  to  the  contrary,  the  editor  continues  to 
pursue  :  in  nine  instances  out  of  ten  without  any  con- 
ceivable reason. 

Who  would  have  thought  that  G would  have  so 

played  the  fool !  On  the  other  hand,  the  Whigs  in  this 
country  are  a  good  deal  weakened  ;  some  of  the  best 
names  which  they  used  to  boast,  are  affixed  to  Mr. 
Wallace's  Address.  The  opportunity  is  good,  if  there 
were  a  Minister  who  knew  how  to  use  it. 

Two  ugly  things  in  natural  history  have  turned  up : 
if  the  account  should  be  confirmed,  —  a  fly  in  the  pro- 
vince of  the  Natchez  (Louisiana),  whose  bite  is  deadly 

*  "  A  marginal  note  is  seldom  worth  so  much."  —  MS.  Tour  in 
1817,  p.  11.,  -where  reference  is  made  to  the  same  proverb. 


160  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

to  horses ;  and  a  bug  in  Persia,  whose  bite  is  deadly  to 
men.  The  latter  is  upon  the  authority  of  young  Kotze- 
bue,  and  he  quotes  the  English  at  Tauris  for  it.  But 
it  has  the  suspicious  addition  that  it  is  deadly  to 
strangers  only,  and  does  not  hurt  the  natives  of  the 
places  where  it  is  found.  I  confess  myself  very  un- 
willing to  believe  these  stories :  such  insects  would 
seem  to  disturb  the  order  of  creation  as  much  as  flying 
dragons,  or  creatures  which  should  possess  wings  with 
the  propensity  and  the  strength  of  the  lion  or  tiger. 
The  balance  would  be  destroyed  by  the  introduction  of 
such  new  powers  into  the  system. 

God  bless  you. 

XV.    S. 


To  John  Richnariy  Esq.,  ^c. 

Keswick,  Nov.  1819. 

My  dear  R., 

John  Murray  has  told  Henry  Taylor  that  the 
King  wished  to  have  my  Catholic  paper  in  the  "  Quar- 
terly Review"  printed  for  separate  circulation,  and  that 
he  (King  John)  replied  to  this  intimated  desire.  No  ! 
If  the  paper  was  to  be  circulated,  let  the  number  be 
bought.  What  truth  there  may  be  in  this,  the  two 
kings  best  know ;  but,  I  dare  say,  that  if  the  one 
sovereign  had  any  such  wish,  his  Ministers  had  not. 

The  Papists  are  playing  the  safe  game  :  nunneries 
they  want,  for  the  purpose  of  shutting  up  a  daughter 
whom  they  cannot  otherwise  dispose  of;  convents  for 
men,  they  do  not  (that  is  the  laity),  because  sons  take 
care  of  themselves.  Convents,  however,  would  be  less 
mischievous  to  us  than  nunneries,  because  superstition 
is  more  contagious  among  women  than  men  ;  and  the 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  161 

objection  which  holds  good  against  monks  ought  to 
hold  good  against  nuns  as  well,  if  what  is  sauce  for  the 
gander  should  be  sauce  for  the  goose. 

The  other  regulation  which  makes  the  titular  pre- 
lates drop  their  Irish  titles,  is  very  fit,  and  for  that 
reason  very  irritating  ;  but  this  irritation  seems  to  be 
completely  dissembled.  Once  in,  and  we  very  soon  see 
those  ulterior  measures  proposed  in  this   behalf  which 

Mr.  has  hinted  at,  and  those  other  inroads  upon 

the  Church  which  the  incomparable  has  an- 
nounced. 

God  bless  you, 

li.  S. 


To  John  Rickman,  Esq.,  S^c. 

Keswick,  Dec.  3.  1819. 

My  dear  R., 

Thank  you  for  the  Parliamentary  Proceedings 
and  the  pamphlet.  Badly  as  I  thought  of  the  Whigs, 
they  have  on  tliis  occasion  shown  themselves  at  once 
greater  knaves  and  greater  blockheads  than  I  had  ex- 
])ected.  The  measures  of  Government  are  much  as  I 
looked  for —  more  efficient  ones  might  have  been  carried 
without  exciting  more  opposition  ;  but  Ministers  are 
safe  from  the  strongest  grounds  that  could  be  taken 
against  them.  Why  was  not  all  this  done  three  years 
affo,  when  there  was  the  same  reason  for  it  I  The 
eruption  will  be  cured,  but  the  body  will  remain  dis- 
eased. Of  this  I  am  convinced,  that  all  governments 
must  be  considered  as  imperfect  which  do  not  keep  in 
their  own  hands  the  direction  of  public  instruction,  and 
the  control  of  the  press.  This  has  always  been  required 
in  Utopian  romance. 

VOL.  III.  M 


162  LETTEliS   OF  1819. 

I  have  been  doing  my  task  for  the  Court  Fiddlers, 
which  goes  inclosed  ;  and  there  is  some  danger  that  I 
may  lose  my  labour,  by  having  done  it  too  soon.  When- 
ever the  king  dies,  1  must  do  sometliing  more  than  task 
verses  which  are  fit  only  to  be  fiddled ;  and  this  present 
claim  has  made  me  think  about  it  in  earnest,  that  I  may 
not  be  wholly  unprepared.  This  will  be  an  inconvenient 
interruption ;  but  1  have  planned  something  which,  tii 
fallor,  is  capable  of  some  eflfect ;  which  will  be  a  good 
deal  out  of  the  common,  and  in  which  I  shall  have  an 
opportunity  of  speaking  vphat  in  Dahomey  would  be 
called  strong  words. 

I  have  some  inscriptions  in  hand,  which  I  shall  send 
you  as  soon  as  I  can  satisfy  myself  with  them,  and 
through  you  to  the  Pontifex  Maximus. 

Giffbrd's  illness,  I  suspect,  was  nothing  more  than 
his  constitutional  want  of  health, — some  temporary  ex- 
acerbation of  an  habitual  disease.  I  find  Government 
have  set  on  foot  a  weekly  paper ;  they  would  do  better 
to  frame  such  laws  as  would  put  a  stop  to  many  of 
these  already  in  existence.  An  Act  against  Sunday 
newspapers  would  have  had  much  of  this  eflfect. 

God  bless  you.  Remember  me  to  Mrs.  R.,  Ann, 
Franco,  and  the  young  giant. 

R.  S. 


To  a  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 
My  dear  Wynn, 

Keswick,  Dec.  II.  1819. 
You  are  a  happy  man  who  can  enjoy  the  busi- 
ness as  well  as  the  leisure  of  life,  and  carry  with  you 
temper  and  talents  as  well  suited  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons as  to  the  retirement  of  Llangedwin.      To  one  at  a 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  163 

distance  from  the  political  cockpit,  the  times  and  the 
measures  of  Government  are  more  interesting  than  the 
debates.  The  days  are  past  when  the  speeches  of  oppo- 
sition might  be  read  with  pleasure  and  advantage  by 
those  who  differed  from  the  speakers  in  opinion,  and 
disapproved  their  conduct.  Nothing  is  now  left  but  the 
cfall  and  bitterness  of  faction  :  instead  of  \o<Ac  and  elo- 
quence,  you  have  personalities  and  calumny,  and  the 
place  of  argument  is  supplied  by  the  hardihood  which 
advances  again  and  again  the  same  siiameless  misrepre- 
sentations. We  shall  not  appear  a  very  wise  people  in 
the  eyes  of  posterity.  For  what  absurdity  can  be 
greater  than  that  of  sacrificing  the  very  end  and  purpose 
of  law  to  the  formalities  of  law!  The  case  of  Shervviii 
is  a  pregnant  instance :  here  is  a  fellow  publishing  the 
most  direct  excitations  to  assassination  and  rebellion, 
openly,  week  after  week,  and  with  his  name  to  every 
paper:  and  yet  we  are  told  it  is  impossible  to  bring  the 
crime  home  to  him  !  There  are  fifty  instances  of  tlie 
same  kind,  wherein  the  guilt  of  the  offender  is  notorious, 
and  is  not  even  attempted  to  be  denied  ;  and  yet  he 
entrenches  himself  in  quibbles,  and  technicalities,  and 
bids  defiance  to  justice.  If  this  be  not  iiropter  legem^ 
legis  perdere  causas,  I  know  not  what  it  is. 

I  am  satisfied  with  the  measures  of  Government  as 
far  as  they  go,  and  think  the  ministry  right  in  not  sus- 
pending the  Habeas  Corpus  ; — that  would  only  have  put 
off  a  crisis,  which  will  be  moi'e  dangerous  the  longer  it 
is  delayed.  The  restrictions  upon  the  press  indeed  are 
not  worth  much  ;  but  we  may  judge,  .from  the  opposition 
which  is  made  to  them,  wliat  a  clamour  would  have 
been  raised  against  more  efficient  acts. 

I  have  a  good  deal  to  say  upon  the  prospects  of 
society.  Whether  the  present  ferment  may  subside 
without  an  explosion,  or  not,  there  are  great  and  in- 
creasing difficulties  before  us,  to  the  extent  and  magni- 

M    2 


164  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

tude  of  whicli  I  cannot  shut  my  eyes.  A  strong 
Government,  a  wise  Administration,  and  a  flourishing 
trade  might  enable  us  to  overcome  them,  to  attain  a  state 
of  prosperity,  and  place  things  in  such  a  train  as  might 
promise  to  render  that  prosperity  durable  ;  but  we  have 
neither  of  these,  nor  any  hope,  nor  any  chance  of  ob- 
taining them.  These  are  uncomfortable  thoughts. 
Enough  of  them,  therefore,  for  the  present. 

I  have  not  heard  immediately  from  Turner,  concern- 
ing my  contingencies  upon  Lord  Somerville's  death,  but 
from  other  quarters  I  gather  that  his  Lordship  did  all 
he  could  to  defeat  them,  and  as,  of  course,  he  had  good 
legal  advice  for  what  he  was  doing,  it  is  most  likely  that 
he  has  been  successful.  If  it  should  prove  so,  the 
chance  has  never  entered  enough  into  my  thoughts  for 
me  to  feel  it  as  a  disappointment :  nor,  indeed,  would  I, 
as  far  as  I  myself  am  concerned,  consent  to  purchase  the 
whole  property  at  the  cost  of  anxiety  which  a  Chancery 
suit  would  induce. 

At  this  time  of  year  I  am  left  altogether  without  any 
interruption  from  without.   There  is  no  chance  of  seeing 
even  a  stray  visitor,  and  I  am  as   busy  and  as  comfort- 
able as  a  silkworm  who  is  working   upon  his  cone   and 
has  just  shut  himself  in  from  the  external  world.     I  am 
reviewing  Coxe's  "  Marlborougli,"  with  much  interest  in 
the  subject,  so  much  indeed  that  I  should  be  very  well 
pleased  to  take  it  up  upon  a  larger  scale,    and  expand 
it  into  a  regular  Life,  which  might  be  a  companion  to 
tiiat  of  Nelson.     My  evenings  arc  given   to  "  Wesley," 
witli  which  I  am  proceeding  faster  than  the  printer,  and 
somewhat   the  more  rapidly  because  I  am  within  sight 
of  the  end.     As  soon  as  this  is  done,  the  "  Peninsular 
War"  will  become  my  main  object,  and  I  shall  pursue 
it  steadily,  and  not   take  my  hand  off  till  it  is  carried 
fairly  through  the  press.      As  soon  as  "  Wesley  "  and 
"Marlborough"  are  done,  and  another  paper  for  the 


1819.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  165 

"  Quarterly  Review,"  of  which  the  "  New  Churches"  are 
the  themes,  I  shall  start  for  the  South,  and  be  about 
two  months  in  and  near  London.  And  then  I  must 
accept  Bunbury's  invitation  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
his  papers.  I  may  perhaps  defer  my  departure  a  few 
weeks  for  the  sake  of  a  more  favourable  season,  and 
leave  home  at  the  end  of  February,  or  the  beginning  of 
March,  with  the  intention  of  returning  in  May;  for  I 
shall  have  a  great  deal  to  do  with  official  papers  in 
London. 

Not  a  line  of  poetry  have  I  written  since  your  last 
packet.     Your  godson  goes  on  well,  thank  God. 

God  bless  you,  my  dear  Wynn. 

Yours  affectionately, 

R.  S, 


To  a  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.^  M.P. 

Keswick,  Dec.  24.  1819. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

You,  no  doubt,  can  tell  me,  what  I  have  no 
means  of  ascertaining  here,  whether  "  the  noble  and 
elect  Lady  Huntingdon  "  was  sister  to  the  earl  of  Fer- 
rers who  was  hanged  ?  She  was  daughter  of  Washing- 
ton, Earl  of  Ferrers,  and  born  in  1707.  A  taint  of 
insanity  in  the  blood  may,  I  think,  fairly  be  presumed. 
I  am  as  yet  no  nearer  the  mark  concerning  my  chance 
of  a  Chancery  suit.  But  this  seems  clear,  that  if  I  am 
heir  at  law,  my  claim  will  be  to  the  whole  property, 
if  it  was  not  in  Lord  Somerville's  power  to  cut  off  that 
claim.  It  appears  by  the  will  that  he  was  christened 
John  Southey,  which  latter  name  he  always  thought 
proper  to  drop,  though  he  derived  from  it  his  best  ex- 
pectations at  the  time  of  his  birth. 

M  3 


166  LETTERS   OF  1819. 

In  reference  to  the  opposition  to  the  scheme  of  ba- 
nishment or  transportation,  which  is  made  on  behalf  of 
the  booksellers,  an  observation  of  some  consequence 
might  be  made  relative  to  that  trade.  There  are  rogues 
in  all  trades,  but  I  do  not  know  any  other  trade  in 
which  a  certain  number  of  its  members  are  rogues  and 
blackguards  by  profession,  continually  on  the  watch  to 
cheat  the  honourable  booksellers  by  all  the  tricks  of 
piracy,  to  deceive  the  ignorant  public  by  sending  out 
books  under  false  names  (Lord  Byron's,  Miss  Edge- 
worth's  and  T.  Moore's  have  all  been  used  thus),  and, 
as  at  this  time,  living  by  the  sale  of  obscenity,  blas- 
phemy, and  treason.  Now  it  is  not  more  reasonable  for 
Longman  and  Murray  to  object  to  an  ignominious 
punishment  being  enacted  against  such  fellows  as  these 
than  it  would  be  for  the  Lord  Chancellor  or  the  Chief 
Justice  to  complain  of  the  laws  which  set  a  knavish 
attorney  in  the  pillory.  As  for  the  danger  which  they 
conceive  to  themselves,  no  bookseller  ought  to  publish 
anything  of  which  he  doubts,  whether  it  be  libellous  or 
not;  for  if  there  be  a  doubt,  it  is  plain  that  the  thing 
ought  not  to  be  published.  There  is  no  chance,  or 
possibility,  I  might  say,  of  the  law  affecting  them  in 
any  other  way  than  by  making  them  cautious. 

The  signal  for  a  general  insurrection  was  to  be  un- 
derstood by  the  radicals  at  Carlisle,  if  the  Manchester 
mail  did  not  arrive  as  usual  on  a  certain  day.  This  was 
borrowed  from  the  Irish  in  their  rebellion.  The  magis- 
trates were  informed  of  this,  and  acted  accordingly. 
Fellows  enough  were  on  the  look-out  for  the  mail  to 
evince  the  truth  of  the  information  which  had  been 
given.  In  such  a  case  as  this  a  stronger  Government 
would  have  stopped  the  mail.  Were  you  not  amused 
at  Brougham's  complaining  of  misrepresentation.  It 
reminds  me  of  the  Devil,  in  an  old  dialogue  of  mine 
between  that  personage  and   St.  Anthony,  complaining 


J  819.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  167 

how  grievously  he  was  calumniated  and  how  ill  he  was 
used  by  a  scandalous  world. 

A  merry  Christmas  to  you,  and  God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 


Keswick,  Dec.  31.  1819. 

Dr.Wordsworth's  story  has  not  the  slightest  founda- 
tion ;  nor  can  I  guess  how  it  should  have  arisen,  unless 
it  be  that  a  paper  of  mine  upon  the  "  New  Churches," 
which  was  printed  a  year  ago,  has  been  sent  back  to  me 
with  a  wish  that  I  would  enlarge  it ;  but  there  is  not  a 
word  about  the  Catholic  question  there.  In  truth  I 
should  most  gladly  have  entered  into  that  question  in 
all  its  bearings  long  ago,  if  I  had  not  known  how  im- 
possible it  was  to  obtain  admission  for  opinions  such  as 
mine  upon  the  subject  in  the  "  Quarterly  Review."  I  am 
as  little  pleased  as  you  can  be  with  the  manner  in  which 
Gifford  mutilates  whatever  is  sent  him,  upon  no  imagi- 
nable principle,  as  far  as  I  can  discover  ;  — in  most  cases, 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  of  indulging  a  habit  which 
he  cannot  help.  He  has  repeatedly  promised  me  that  he 
would  not  do  it,  and  yet  every  one  of  my  papers  comes 
forth  castrated  from  under  his  hands.  It  would  be  a 
great  satisfaction  to  me  if  I  could  do  without  this 
Review,  and  at  present  there  seems  to  be  some  pro- 
bability that  my  connection  with  it  may  be  broken  off, 
however  great  the  immediate  inconveniences.  Murray 
has  thought  proper  to  send  me  a  less  sum  for  my  last 
paper  than  I  choose  to  accept  for  it.  I  therefore  sent 
the  draft  back  to  GiiSbrd,  from  whom  it  came,  treated 
the  matter  as  a  mistake  (as  indeed  at  first  I  really  sup- 

M    4 


16&  LETTERS    OF  1819. 

posed  it  to  be),  and  told  him  I  expected  100/.  Six 
posts  have  elapsed,  and  I  have  received  no  reply.  I 
shall  wait  patiently,  and  let  him  chew  the  cud  as  long 
as  he  pleases.  But  if  the  answer,  when  it  comes,  is  not 
wiiat  it  ought  to  be,  the  "  Q.  R."  shall  never  receive 
another  communication  from  me.  This  will  leave  me 
very  much  abroad  for  my  ways  and  means  at  first. 
However  this  is  of  no  great  consequence.  I  shall  make 
my  way  somehow  or  other,  and  probably  more  to  my 
own  contentment  at  the  end. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  one  of  the  first  things  which  I 
may  undertake  will  be  a  little  volume  in  the  form  of 
dialogue,  and  in  remote  imitation  of  Boethius ;  the 
object  you  may  perceive  from  the  motto,  —  Respiee, 
aspice,  prospice ;  and  the  interlocutors  would  be  the 
author  and  Sir  Thomas  More.  Did  you  ever  hear  it 
remarked  that  the  print  from  Holbein's  portrait  of  this 
personage  might  have  passed  for  your  likeness  ?  I  am 
not  the  only  person  who  has  perceived  it.  I  have  a 
good  deal  to  say  upon  the  dangers  and  prospects  of 
society,  and  have  thought  a  good  deal  upon  the  parallel 
circumstances  of  this  age  and  of  Henry  VIII's.  And 
probably  my  frame  of  mind  and  way  of  thinking  very 
much  resemble  what  Sir  Thomas  More's  were  in  his 
day.*  The  fiction  would  have  the  double  advantage  of 
relieving  the  subject  and  allowing  me  to  bring  forward 
views  and  opinions  which  it  might  not  be  advisable 
directly  to  avow. 

I  will  set  about  reading  your  "  Oraisons  Funebres  " 
forthwith,  which  I  have  never  yet  done ;  and  by  the 
time  I  have  got  through  theni,  the  subject  which  you 
propose  will  probably  shape  itself  in  my  mind.  I, 
too,  have  been  turning  the  same  probable  event  in  my 

*  I  may  venture  to  say  that  it  is  well  worth  any  student  of 
history's  while  to  consider  well  the  "  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  More," 
and  to  dwell  soberly  upon  his  "  Utopia." 


1819.  ROBERT   SOUXnEY.  169 

mind  as  the  theme  for  a  Threnodia,  and,  indeed,  liave 
gone  so  far  as  to  plan  something  more  in  the  manner  of 
Dante  than  of  any  other  poet.  One  of  my  plans,  which 
I  have  for  some  years  looked  forward  to  as  a  work 
worthy  of  great  pains,  and  likely  to  recompense  the 
labour  bestowed  upon  it,  is  a  view  of  the  life  of  George 
III. ;  a  work  in  which,  avoiding  all  detail,  because  of 
the  almost  immensity  of  the  subject,  I  should  seize  the 
prominent  features  and  general  results,  trace  things  to 
their  causes,  and  look  forward  to  their  consequences. 
Three,  or  perhaps  four,  octavo  volumes  would  com- 
prise it;  this  is  a  book  for  which  a  permanent  demand 
might  be  fairly  expected. 

At  present  I  am  finishing  "  Wesley's  Life."  I 
thought  to  have  completed  this  and  two  papers  for  the 
"  Q.  R."  (the  «  Life  of  Marlborough  "  and  the  «  New 
Churches  ")  by  the  end  of  Februar}'.  This  would  have 
provided  my  ways  and  means  for  the  next  half-year, 
and  then  I  should  have  started  for  London,  via  Ludlow, 
at  a  season  of  the  year  when  there  would  be  no  danger 
of  losing  one's  nose  by  the  frost,  or  being  lost  in  a  snow 
drift.  "  Wesley"  will  be  finished  in  the  course  of  Janu- 
ary ;  there  is  not  much  more  to  write,  and  of  that  only 
one  short  part  which  will  require  much  time.  If  Mur- 
ray and  I  part  company  upon  this  occasion,  as  I  rather 
expect  we  shall,  I  shall  give  February  to  my  tale  of 
"  Paraguay:"  a  couple  of  months  will  carry  that  to  its 
close.  It  has  gone  on  very  slowly,  one  great  reason  of 
which  is  that  I  cast  it  in  the  Spenserian  stanza,  which 
stanza  is  exceedingly  difficult  for  a  man  who  is  not 
satisfied  unless  what  he  writes  will  bear  the  test  of  a 
strict  examination.  Thirty  years  ago  I  could  write  it 
as  rapidly  as  any  other  measure  ;  and  at  that  time  I 
planned  and  made  some  progress  in  a  continuation  of 
the  "  Faerie  Queen."  The  stanza,  however,  is  per- 
fectly adapted  to  the  slow   movement   and   thoughtful 


170  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

cliaracter  of  the  story,  and  I  am  entirely  contented  with 
what  is  done. 

The  Duke  of  B.  may  thank  you  that  I  have  not  taken 
advantage  of  Lord  J.'s  hook  to  play  the  Iconoclast,  and 
demolish  one  of  the  Whig  idols. 

Yesterday  I  received  a  curious  paper  from  H.  Koster, 
containing  details  of  the  revenue  and  expenditure  at 
Para  for  a  few  years  preceding  the  removal.  The  de- 
ficit was  very  considerable,  and  Koster  tells  me  that, 
from  what  he  can  learn,  it  appears  to  have  been  so  in 
most  of  the  Captaincies.  Pernambuco  is  in  a  miserable 
state  ;  such  a  system  of  vexation  and  oppression  has 
followed  the  insurrection,  that  any  change  would  be  for 
the  better,  and  it  seems  as  if  the  court  were  besotted 
to  their  own  sure  destruction.  Koster  is  transcribing 
for  me  an  account  of  the  insurrection  in  1711,  written 
by  one  of  the  revolutionary  party.  No  doubt  it  will 
enable  me  to  make  some  curious  additions  to  that  part 
of  the  history. 

I  have  lost  in  John  Bull  one  of  the  few  readers  who 
would  have  taken  ahnost  as  much  interest  in  reading 
the  book  as  I  did  in  composing  it.     God  bless  you. 

It.  S. 


To  John  Kenyon,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jan.  15.  1820. 

My  dear  Kenyon, 

Supposing  that  you  will  by  this  time  be  in 
London,  I  was  intending  to  write  and  thank  you  for 
your  company  and  your  laver,  when  the  loitering  in- 
tention was  quickened  into  effect  by  some  intelligence 
which  tliis  day's  post  has  brought.  You  will  not  have 
forgotten  the  two  remarkable  letters  from  the  anony- 
mous writer  who  wished  to   entrust  his  papers  to  my 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  171 

care  after  his  death.  I  now  learn  that  the  unliappy 
writer  put  an  end  to  his  life  on  New  Year's  Day,  and 
that  on  the  day  preceding  he  deposited  the  papers  at 
a  house  in  town  to  await  my  directions.     He  proves  to 

have  been  Mr.   E ,  a   person  well   known   to  my 

brother,  and  whom  I  once  met  at  dinner,  some  years 
ago,  at  Dr.  Gooch's,  and  well  remember  as  a  mild, 
melancholy,  introspective  man.  Henry  Robinson  (a 
friend  of  Wordsworth's  and  of  mine)  informs  me  of  this, 
and  gives  me  a  very  singular  and  interesting  account  of 
the  deceased,  with  whom  he  had  long  been  intimate. 
He  describes  him  as  thoroughly  virtuous,  good,  and 
gentle-hearted  ;  but  intense  feeling,  intense  vanity,  self- 
centring  thoughts,  miserable  metaphysics,  and  a  morbid 
temperament,  combined  to  produce  in  him  that  sort  of 
insanity  which  is  incurable  by  any  human  means.  I 
anticipate  a  melancholy  task  with  his  papers,  but  it  may 
possibly  be  an  useful  one.  Cases  of  this  kind  are 
seldom  laid  before  the  world  either  faithfully  or  chari- 
tably.      The  same    elements    which    made    E an 

utter  disbeliever  in  everything  which  it  is  desirable  to 
believe  and  a  suicide  at  last,  would  have  made  him  a 
saint  in  the  middle  ages  of  Monachism,  or  a  martyr  in 
the  age  of  the  Reformation.  And  what  should  I  have 
been  in  those  days  ?  A  pilgrim  to  Jerusalem,  a 
chronicler  (if  I  had  learnt  to  write),  and  a  maker  of 
verses. 

If  your  brother  is  still  at  Vienna,  will  you  ask  him 
if  he  can  obtain  any  account  —  such,  for  instance,  as 
a  German  necrology  or  biographical  dictionary  may 
supply  —  of  my  old  friend  Dobrizhoffer ;  he  was  living 
in  1784.*  I  have  about  three  weeks'  work  to  finish 
"  Wesley."     The  printer  will  be  longer  about  his  part ; 

*  My  copy  of  Dobrizhoffer  is  the  German  translation  by  Kreil. 
The  two  first  volumes  were  printed  in  1783,  the  third  in  1784,  and 
his  death  is  not  mentioned. 


172  LETTERS   OP  1820. 

but  if  he  makes  no  unusual  and  unexpected  delay  a 
copy  will  be  left  for  you  in  Portland  Place  before  you 
see  me  in  town. 

The  friends  of  order  are  sincfiiif?  Te  Deum  too  soon 
for  their  victory  over  the  Radicals.  The  disease  is  still 
in  the  system,  and  stronger  measures  with  regard  to  the 
press  must  be  adopted  before  it  can  be  removed.  The 
necessary  consequence  of  general  education  must  be  a 
licensed  press,  that  is,  a  press  under  the  control  of 
government,  so  that  nothing  inflammatory,  nothing 
hostile  to  the  existing  institutions  be  suffered  to  ap- 
pear ;  and  the  alternative  is,  whether  you  will  submit 
to  this  to  prevent  revolution,  or  come  to  it  through 
revolution,  and  the  military  government  in  which  re- 
volution inevitably  ends.  The  ladies  below  desire  to 
be  kindly  remembered.  Write  to  me  sometimes  when 
you  have  an  idle  hour,  and  believe  me 

Yours  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  Messrs.  Longman  ^  Co. 

Keswick,  Jan.  28.  1 820. 

Dear  Sir, 

My  tale  of  "  Paraguay  "  will  not  be  ready  yet 


With  regard  to  the  illustrations  of  my  larger  poems, 
I  am  glad  you  think  of  them,  because  such  things  are 
now  become  so  customary  that  the  poet  who  goes 
without  them  might  seem  to  hold  but  a  low  place  in 
public  opinion  ;  a  point  which  I  care  for  only  as  it 
may  affect  the  sale  of  my  works.  Would  it  not  be 
worth  while,  as  an  experiment,  to  print  one  of  my 
poems  with  or  without  the  notes,  in  a  small  cheap  form, 
like  those  little  editions  of  Walker's,   Suttaby's,   &;c.. 


1820.  ROBEllT    SOUTIIEY.  173 

which  are  found  at  every  country  bookseller's,  however 
small  his  stock  ?  I  do  not  think  it  would  lessen  the 
sale  of  the  current  editions,  but  that  sufficient  pur- 
chasers would  be  found  to  give  os.  6d.  or  4<s.  who 
would  never  give  14*.  I  should  like  to  try  this  ex- 
periment with  "  Thalaba,"  that  being  of  all  my  poems 
ihe  most  likely  to  become  popular,  if  it  were  in  a 
jiopular  form.  It  would  thus  be  placed  within  reach 
of  a  whole  class  of  customers,  who  never  buy  books  till 
they  are  lowered  in  price  to  their  means;  but  this  class 
is  numerous,  and  always  on  the  increase,  and  is  plainly 
worth  printing  for,  because  so  many  books  are  printed 
for  it.* 

I  should  expect  that  the  third  volume  of  "  Brazil " 
will  get  up  with  the  second  as  soon  as  it  is  reviewed, 
and  thereby  brought  to  the  notice  of  persons  who  may 
not  see  or  not  regard  the  advertisements.  But  as  to 
the  first  volume,  many  copies  must,  by  the  death  of  the 
first  possessors  or  other  chances,  have  fallen  into  the 
possession  of  persons  who  care  nothing  about  books, 
or  have  cfot  into  the  hands  of  booksellers  as  odd 
volumes,  —  a  necessary  evil  arising  from  the  lapse  of 
time  between  the  first  and  last  publication.  I  must 
not,  however,  regret  that  so  long  a  time  elapsed,  because 
some  of  the  most  important  materials  for  the  last 
volume  did  not  come  to  light  till  that  volume  was  half 
through  the  press ;  so  that,  had  the  work  appeared 
earlier,  it  must  have  been  much  more  imperfect.  Please 
to  lay  a  set  by  for  me  while  one  is  to  be  had,  and  I  will 
choose  a  binding  for  it  when  I  see  you  in  March.  The 
only  copy  which  I  have  is  the  one  in  which  I  am 
making  corrections  and  additions  from  such  documents 
as  have  come  to  my  hands  too  late.     It  is  a  great  satis- 

*  Here,  as  usual,  Southey  was  ahead  of  the  day.     The  cheap 
publications  he  advocated  in  1820,  we  are  enjoying  in  1856. 


174  LETTERS    OF  1820. 

faction  to  me  to  find,  from  these  latei*  documents,  that 
in  no  one  instance,  wliere  I  have  obtained  subsequent 
information,  have  I  found  myself  erroneous  in  the  views 
which  I  had  taken  or  the  opinion  which  I  had  formed. 

When  the  "History  of  Portugal"  comes  to  be 
printed,  I  will  take  care  that  the  volumes  shall  follow 
each  other  without  delay.  And  for  this  reason  I  will 
not  put  it  to  press  (though  more  than  half  the  work  is 
written  in  its  first  state)  till  the  "  History  of  the  Pen- 
insular War"  is  published. 

Yours  truly, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  John  Rickman,  Esq.,  ^c. 

Keswick,  Jan.  30.  1820. 

My  dear  R., 

Thank  you  for  the  various  bills.  They  will  do 
something,  and  afibrd  good  foundation  for  something 
more  efiicient  when  it  is  wanted,  or  rather  when  more 
effective  hands  shall  be  at  the  helm. 

I  am  sorry  for  the  fire  at  New  Lanark,  and  not 
pleased  at  the  ground  which  was  taken  for  scouting  the 
])oor  projector  in  Parliament.  It  looked  too  much 
like  seeking  for  an  excuse  to  get  rid  of  the  motion, 
instead  of  rejecting  it  upon  broader  grounds;  for  if  the 
want  of  religion  were  all,  that  might  surely  be  supplied 
by  the  parties  who  direct  the  experiment  to  be  made. 
Not  that  the  question  is  fit  for  Parliament;  but  I 
should  like  well  to  see  a  wealthy  parish  form  such  an 
establishment  for  its  paupers. 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  see  that  the  necessity  for  colo- 
nisation  seems  now  to  be  admitted  as  undeniable.     I 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  175 

remember  when  Lord  Liverpool  protested  against  any 
such  policy,  and  held  up  America  as  a  warning.  This 
too  is  a  step  gained.  I  shall  take  the  first  opportunity 
of  recommending  Irish  Catholic  emigrants  to  go  to 
Brazil.  We  might  aflTord  the  King  of  Portugal  as 
many  cargoes  of  that  live  stock  as  he  would  choose  to 
send  for:  and  it  would  be  a  delightful  place  for  them, 
the  government  being  so  lanient,  as  an  Irish  gentleman 
once  said  of  the  Papal  Government,  that  "  you  may  kill 
a  man  in  the  streets,  and  nobody  takes  the  laist  notice 
of  it."  A  sort  of  Paradise  this  for  a  wild  Irishman, 
especially  too  as  it  is  the  native  land  of  the  potatoe, 
and  there  is  no  law  against  distillation. 

Remember  me  to  Mrs.  R.  and  the  children. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Feb.  6.  1820. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

As  I  have  not  the  least  wish  to  wait  again  upon 
the  leisure  of  a  gentleman  usher,  I  will  hope  that  my 
office  may  come  under  the  benefit  of  Mr.  Ponsonby's 
bill.  The  mill,  as  you  suppose,  is  at  work  :  the  event 
did  not  take  me  altogether  unprepared  ;  I  had  thought 
of  it  with  reference  to  my  task,  and  was  ready  with  as 
much  of  a  plan  as  usually  serves  me  for  beginning 
with.  A  beginning  I  have  now  made.  The  matter 
will  bear  more  resemblance  to  Dante's  cast  of  imasri- 
nation  than  to  that  of  any  other  writer.  But,  for  the 
mould  in  which  it  is  cast,  I  am  half  afraid  to  tell  you  that 


176  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

I  am  writing  in  hexameters,  because  you  will  lift  up 
both  hands  against  such  an  experiment.  But  you  will 
instantly  perceive  that  it  is  the  form,  and  length,  and 
proportion  of  the  metre,  which  must  be  taken  from  the 
ancients,  and  not  the  laws  of  it.  More  than  twenty 
years  ago  I  tried  it,  and  produced  about  a  hundred 
lines:  as  soon  as  my  ear  became  accustomed  to  it, 
I  found  it  not  more  difficult  to  compose  than  blank 
verse.  Without  doing  any  violence  to  the  language  by 
inversions,  or  requiring  from  the  reader  any  knowledge 
of  what  an  hexameter  is,  to  enable  him  to  give  it  its 
proper  accentuation,  but  leaving  that  to  follow  (as  in 
any  other  kind  of  verse)  from  the  natural  and  proper 
pronunciation  of  the  words,  I  find  it  a  full  and  sonorous 
measure,  capable  of  great  strength,  great  sweetness, 
and  great  variety  of  movements.  This  you  may  rely 
upon,  that  if  the  thoughts  will  support  the  measure, 
the  measure  will  support  the  thoughts.  I  hope  it  will 
not  much  exceed  three  hundred  lines ;  but  even  this  will 
delay  my  movements  two  or  three  weeks  longer  than  I 
had  intended. 

My  anticipations  are  of  the  same  complexion  as 
yours,  and  yet  I  shall  be  one  of  the  last  to  despair. 
The  tendency  of  the  age  is  plainly  towards  revolution, 
and  that  not  in  government  alone,  but  in  religion  and 
in  the  institutions  of  property.  There  are  many  pre- 
servative principles  at  work ;  and  if  the  press  were 
curbed,  1  believe  that  we  should  weather  the  storm. 
We  are  so  duped  by  words  and  phrases  in  this  country, 
that  no  statesman  ventures  to  speak  out  upon  the  evils 
of  the  press,  whatever  he  may  think  of  them.  Nothing, 
however,  can  be  more  certain  than  that  tlie  press  will 
subvert  everything,  if  more  efficacious  measures  than 
the  late  bills  are  not  taken  for  restraining  it.  You  see 
Hone  is  at  this  time  enriching  himself  by  such  things 
as  the   "  House   that    Jack   built."      That    publication 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  177 

ought  to  have  been  prosecuted  immediately  on  its 
appearance ;  and  if  the  existing  laws  were  found  inca- 
pable of  reaching  a  publication  so  thoroughly  mis- 
chievous as  that,  they  would  have  been  brought  to  the 
reductio  ad  ahsurdum,  and  the  necessity  for  a  new  one 
would  have  been  demonstrated.  I  have  begun  a  series 
of  "  Dialogues  upon  the  Prospects  of  Society,"  in 
which  my  aim  is  to  collect  as  much  light  as  I  can  from 
the  past.  This  age,  like  that  of  the  Reformation, 
seems  to  be  one  of  the  great  climacterics  of  the  world. 
I  make  the  comparison  between  them,  and  draw  from 
it  what  inferences  appear  legitimate. 

I  have  no  recollection  of  the  letter  which  you  speak 
of;  but  I  remember  writing  a  paper  upon  the  same 
subject  which  was  designed  for  the  "  Flagellant,"  and 
can  call  to  mind  part  of  it  that  was  singularly  ignorant, 
and  part  which  had  a  condensed  and  pithy  manner,  that 
carried  with  it  as  much  promise  as  any  of  those  verses 
which  I  used  to  send  you  by  the  foolscapsheetful  to  Eton 
about  the  same  time.  I  entirely  agree  with  you  that 
details  of  suicide  and  murder  tend  to  excite  imitation. 
I  have  said  something  to  this  effect  in  the  "  Q.  R.," 
and  was  well  pleased  to  hear  that  opinion  confirmed 
while  the  paper  was  in  the  printer's  hands  by  poor 
Dauncey,  whose  judgment  on  such  a  subject  was  of 
great  value.  This,  too,  is  one  evil  of  our  press.  But 
in  the  case  of  E's.  papers,  he  was  so  decidedly  insane, 
and  his  whole  unhappiness  so  clearly  the  consequence 
of  his  opinions,  that  I  am  much  inclined  to  think  the 
exposure  may  have  a  good  effect.  If  upon  examining 
the  papers  I  should  come  to  an  opposite  conclusion, 
you  may  be  well  assured  that  no  considerations  should 
induce  me  to  be  instrumental  in  publishing  them. 

If  the  time  served,  I  should  like  to  come  upon  your 
election,  and  see  you  chaired.  What  a  worthless  book 
has  this  Oliver  Cromwell  made;   without  one  paper  or 

VOL.  III.  N 


178  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

an  anecdote  of  any  importance  that  was  not  known 
before.  I  am  much  disappointed,  having  sent  for  it 
for  the  pleasure  of  writing  a  life  of  Old  Nol. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Miss  Barker. 

Keswick,  Feb.  10.  1820. 
Dear  Senhora, 

I  received  your  note  yesterday  in  a  frank  from 
Longman,  which  covered  a  proof  sheet.  For  a  very 
long  while  I  had  been  intending  and  intending  to 
write  to  you.  You  know  some  old  divine  has  said  that 
Hell  is  paved  with  good  intentions.  But  you  know 
also,  that  the  longer  I  live  the  more  I  have  to  do. 

Wesley  is  not  finished  yet.  My  part  will  be  com- 
pleted in  the  course  of  this  month,  and  the  printer 
will  not  be  long  behind  me.  There  is  time,  therefore, 
for  you  to  tell  me  how  it  may  be  sent  from  London, 
and  I  will  give  directions  for  sending  it  with  the  last 
volume  of  "  Brazil."  Perhaps  the  readiest  way  would 
be  to  entrust  it  to  the  Paris  diligence  from  London, 
and  direct  it  to  your  uncle.     But  you  will  let  me  know. 

1  meant  to  have  left  home  early  in  March.  The 
King's  death  will  delay  my  departure  two  or  three 
weeks,  for  I  must  of  course  produce  something  on  this 
subject,  and  if  I  begin  my  journey  before  the  poem  is 
finished,  the  funeral  verses  will  come  out  just  in  time 
for  the  coronation.  You  know  how  little  inclination  I 
have  to  task  my  poor  brains  upon  such  hackneyed  sub- 
jects as  this,  especially  too  when  every  man,  woman, 
and  child,  who   can  grind  a  verse,   is  likely    to   be  at 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  179 

work  upon  it.  However,  if  any  person  sets  his  verses 
to  the  same  tune  as  mine,  I  think  I  may  very  safely 
say  that  1  would  consent  to  be  hanged. 

You  probably  know  that  Lord  Somerville  is  dead, 
and  I  believe  you  know  that  I  was  related  to  him.  He 
was  my  third  cousin,  and  distant  as  this  connection  is, 
it  may  possibly  give  me  a  right  to  a  suit  in  Chancery 
to  recover  property  bequeathed  to  him  and  his  issue 
by  his  mother's  uncle  —  a  certain  John  Cannon  Southey, 
whose  heir-at-law  I  am,  in  consequence  of  Lord  So- 
merville's  demise.  The  old  Cannon  was  but  an  old 
blunderbuss,  and  made  a  most  confused  will.  Lord  S. 
has  done  all  he  could  to  cut  off  my  rights,  and  though 
I  believe  the  equity  of  the  case  is  as  clear  as  noonday, 
the  lav)  may  be  very  doubtful.  The  estates  in  ques- 
tion amount  to  about  a  thousand  a  year.  The  matter 
is  in  Turner's  hands,  and  of  course  the  best  opinions 
will  be  taken  on  the  subject.  You  know  as  much 
about  it  now  as  I  do. 

Now  let  me  make  you  angry.  A  rascally  bookseller 
in  London  is  at  this  time  publishing,  in  sixpenny  num- 
bers, a  Life  of  the  King,  by  Robert  Sout%,  Esq. ; 
printed  for  the  Author.  "Observe,  to  order  Southy's 
Life  of  the  King,  to  avoid  imposition."  The  rascal  ex- 
pects that  by  mispelling  the  name,  he  can  evade  the 
law.  Whether  he  can  or  not  is  one  question,  and  whe- 
ther it  be  worth  my  while  to  be  at  the  expense  of  any 
proceedings  against  him  is  another  of  equal  importance, 
which  I  shall  leave  Longman  and  Turner  to  decide. 
But  do  not  you  think  that  a  cart's  tail  might  be  wor- 
thily employed  upon  this  occasion  ?  With  a  little  trou- 
ble, I  could  work  myself  into  a  passion  about  this. 

Miss  Hutchinson  is  with  us.  The  winter  has  tried 
Mrs.  Wilson  sorely,  and  she  will  not  stand  such  another 
trial.  It  has  been  very  severe,  but  the  frost  was  never 
accompanied  with  wind ;  and  though,  the  glass  was  never 

K  a 


180  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

lower  since  we  have  been  in  this  country,  I  have  often 
felt  it  much  colder  in  the  house.  We  are  now  enjoy- 
ing a  genial  February. 

The  children,  thank  God,  are  well.  I  have  made  a 
surprising  progress  in  spoiling  Cuthbert,  He  has  long 
since  found  out  the  attractions  of  the  study,  and  would 
look  at  pictures  by  the  hour,  if  anybody  would  con- 
tinue to  exhibit.  But  I  bear  the  bell  as  an  exhibitor, 
because  on  such  occasions  I  speak  the  language  of  all 
the  birds  in  the  air,  and  all  the  beasts  in  the  field.  He 
has  often  had  bilious  attacks,  and  one  very  severe  one. 
At  present  he  seems  strong  and  healthy,  just  as  sweet 
a  creature  as  can  be,  and  as  tyrannical  as  you  would 
wish  to  see  him, —  very  forward  with  his  tongue,  and 
backward  with  his  feet.  My  brother  Tom  has  another 
child  on  the  stocks ! 

We  were  much  shocked,  as  you  may  suppose,  at 
hearing  of  Mr.  Brewer's  death.  I  heard  at  the  same 
time  (,f  Mr.  Lewis's.  But  he  was  a  man  in  years.  Ed- 
ward is  here  to  day  (Saturday  the  12th),  in  excellent 
health.     All  here  desire  their  love.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Hev.  Herbert  Hill,  ^-c. 

Keswick,  Feb.  18.  1820. 

The  King's  death  will  of  necessity  delay  my  departure 
from  home  till  I  can  spin  verses  enough  for  the  oc- 
casion ;  and  the  hearty  dislike  I  have  for  more  than 
twenty  years  felt  for  writing  verses  upon  occasional 
topics  makes  this  no  easy  task,  especially  since  I  have 
learnt  in  perfection  the  art  of  writing  with  difficulty. 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  181 

However,  I  had  begun  to  think  upon  the  subject  when 
the  alarm  was  given  in  December,  and  had  even  just 
made  a  beginning,  for  the  sake  of  pitching  the  tune. 
How  tlie  plan  may  turn  out  remains  to  be  seen  :  it  is 
somewhat  in  the  manner  of  Dante's  invention ;  not  of 
his  style.  The  measure  will  be  a  nine  days'  wonder, 
for  I  am  writing  in  hexameters ;  written,  of  course,  by 
accent  not  by  quantity ;  and  (I  think)  so  written  that 
they  cannot  in  a  single  instance  be  possibly  misread, 
if  read  according  to  the  natural  pronunciation  of  the 
words.  I  have  composed  about  a  hundred  lines,  which 
may  be,  perhaps,  a  third  of  the  whole.  It  is  not  more 
difficult  than  blank  verse,  or  if  more  difficult  in  some 
respects,  it  affijrds  greater  facility  in  others;  and  it  is  a 
full,  sonorous,  stately  measure,  capable  of  great  variety, 
great  sweetness,  and  great  strength.  The  pleasure  of 
making  the  experiment  takes  off  the  tedium  of  the 
task ;  and  its  success  or  failure  will  be  so  much  a  matter 
of  indifference,  that  when  it  is  once  sent  into  the 
world  I  shall  scarcely  ever  think  of  it  again. 

Another  cause  of  delay  has  arisen  since  I  began  this 
letter.  Longman  tells  me  he  means  to  reprint  the 
first  volume  of  the  "  Brazil,"  in  order  to  make  up  the 
sets;  there  being  about  170  copies  of  the  second  and 
third  which  would  otherwise  serve  only  for  waste  paper. 
I  had  made  a  good  many  improvements  in  the  first 
volume,  chiefly  from  "  Jaboatam,"  and  the  "Valeroso 
Lucideno ;  "  but  there  are  others  to  make :  in  the  first 
place,  Cazal  has  printed  a  letter  to  Emanuel  from 
Pedro  Vaz  de  Caminha  (who  was  in  Cabral's  fleet), 
containing  a  minute  account  of  the  discovery.  The 
original  is  stated  to  be  in  the  Torre  do  Tombo.  At 
first  I  suspected  its  authenticity,  because  it  contains  the 
words  sertoens,  and  inhame.  The  former  I  had  sup- 
posed to  have  been  coined  in  Brazil,  the  latter  to  have 
been  of  Tupi  growth ;  but  I  have  since  recollected  that 

N    3 


182  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

sertoens  is  also  used  in  Portuguese  Africa,  and  that 
inhame  is  as  likely  to  be  Angolan  as  Tupi,  and  has 
indeed  more  of  an  Angolan  physiognomy.  It  will  take 
me  a  few  days  to  insert  the  substance  of  the  letter, 
which  is  of  considerable  length.  This  comes  of  course 
in  the  first  chapter,  and  must  not  be  delayed.  I  have 
other  additions  to  make,  but  they  will  not  be  wanted 
so  soon.  Lescarbot  in  his  "  Histoire  de  Nouvelle 
France"  (1606),  has  an  account  of  Villegagnon's  ex- 
pedition. The  substance  of  the  "  Relacoens  Annuaes," 
of  which  we  have  only  three  volumes,  is  contained  in  a 
"  Histoire  des  choses  plus  memorahles  advenues  tant  ez 
Tildes  Orientales,  que  autres  pais  de  la  descouverte  des 
Portugais,  en  Vestahlissement  ^  progrez  de  la  foy 
Chrestienne"  by  the  Jesuit  Pierre  du  Jarric.  Bordeaux, 
1610 — 14;  a  book  in  three  small  quartos  of  solid  con- 
tents, which  I  long  had  had  scent  of  before  I  found  it 
at  Brussels.  It  was  of  sufficient  reputation  to  be 
translated  into  Latin.  And,  lastly,  there  is  the  "  His- 
tory of  the  AVest  India  Company,"  by  Johannes  de 
Laet,  out  of  which  I  am  just  Dutchman  enough  to  pick 
the  meaning.  But  I  may  make  room  in  my  trunk  for 
De  Laet  and  the  Dictionary,  and  settle  my  affairs  with 
him  at  Streatham. 

Most  probably  I  shall  not  leave  home  before  the 
latter  end  of  March ;  and  if  Parliament  is  dissolved 
soon  I  shall  call  at  Wynnstay  on  my  way,  and  halt  a 
few  days  with  Wynn  either  there  or  at  Llangedwin. 
I  reckon  upon  passing  April  and  May  in  town  ;  taking 
out  ten  days  or  a  fortnight  for  work  in  Suffolk,  upon 
Sir  H.  Bunbury's  papers,  and  some  which  have  been 
offered  by  Major  Moore. 

Do  you  know  that  a  rascally  London  bookseller  is 
publishing  Memoirs  of  the  late  King,  in  sixpenny 
numbers,  by  Robert  Sowihy,  Esq.;  "printed  for  the 
Author."    "  Observe  to  order  Southy's  Life  of  the  King, 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  183 

to  avoid  imposition."  And  as  the  practice  of  our  laws 
is,  as  far  as  possible  to  protect  all  rogues  and  criminals, 
the  fellow  may  do  this  with  impunity,  because  he  mis- 
spells my  name,  and  lies  to  the  ear,  not  to  the  eye, — 
or  to  the  eye  of  the  ignorant  only. 

Love  to  my  aunt.  God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Kenyan,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Feb.  21.  1820. 

My  dear  Kenyon, 

Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  your  letter  the 
order  for  the  char  was  given  and  accepted,  so  that 
I  thought  myself  sure  of  executing  the  commission. 
But  I  now  learn  that  the  fish  would  not  be  caught,  and 
that  it  was  not  thought  advisable  to  catch  them ;  the 
fish,  the  fishermen,  and  the  fish  potters  being  unani- 
mously of  opinion  that  this  is  not  the  season.  The 
proper  months  are  October  and  November.  Give  me 
any  directions  for  that  time  and  they  shall  be  punctually 
observed. 

What  a  world  of  events  since  the  date  of  your 
letter,  though  it  is  scarcely  a  month  old!  A  new  King, 
—  an  ugly  question  about  the  new  Queen,  —  the  pre- 
parations  for  a  new  Parliament,  which  bring  on  a 
relapse  of  the  election  fever  before  this  part  of  England 
has  recovered  from  the  ill  blood  which  the  last  left 
behind  it, — and  this  assassination  in  France  !  You  will 
be  compelled  sooner  or  later  to  agree  with  me  con- 
cerning the  press,  and  you  cannot  be  more  unwilling 
to  come  to  that  opinion  than  I  have  been.  There  will 
be    no    security   for    governments    to    society    till    the 

N    4 


184  LETTERS   OP  1820. 

constituted  autliorities  all  over  Europe  have  the  control 
of  the  press.  The  question  is,  whether  this  shall  be 
conceded  to  an  equitable  government,  which  consults 
the  public  good,  and  regards  public  opinion  as  the 
means  of  preventing  revolution ;  or  whether  it  will  be 
taken  by  the  military  Autocrat,  who  will  put  an  end  to 
the  series  of  massacres,  proscriptions,  and  civil  Wcirs, 
which  this  miserable  country  must  inevitably  undergo 
unless  the  press  be  curbed.  We  have  no  statesman 
courageous  enough  to  venture  upon  the  remedy,  though 
I  cannot  believe  any  of  our  statesmen  can  be  so  blind 
as  not  to  understand  the  danger.  What  then  is  to 
save  us  ?  Perhaps  a  premature  rebellion  before  the 
army  is  corrupted.  This  is  not  so  likely  as  it  was 
three  months  ago,  when  a  day  for  the  attempt  was 
fixed,  and  when  any  government  but  ours  would  have 
caught  the  ringleaders  in  a  trap.  Perhaps  some  fright- 
ful tragedy  like  this  of  the  Due  de  Berri ;  —  and  I  will 
own  to  you  that  such  a  thing  would  surprise  me  less  in 
this  country  than  it  has  done  in  France :  —  it  has 
already  been  twice  attempted  ;  once  on  the  late  King 
—  once  on  the  Regent;  and  on  both  times  because  the 
murderer  missed  his  aim,  the  newspapers  made  a  jest 
of  it !  Infatuated  as  we  are,  I  believe  that  the  shot 
which  should  take  effect  would  be  fatal  to  our  news- 
paper press.  I  can  imagine  another  means.  It  is 
among  my  uncomfortable  speculations,  that  a  country 
which  has  been  so  long  without  any  visitation  of  pes- 
tilence as  England  has  been,  has  some  right  to  expect 
it ;  so  long  a  time  never  having  elapsed  without  one 
before ;  and  it  being  certain  that  we  are  not  preserved 
from  it  by  any  improvement  in  the  healing  art,  nor  by 
any  precautions,  nor  by  any  change  in  our  climate. 
It  is  a  frightful  thought,  but  it  has  occurred  to  me, 
who  believe  in  the  moral  government  of  the  world 
(and  it  has  made  an  impression  upon  me),  that  Provi- 


1820. 


ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  185 


dcnce  may  send  pestilence  among  us,  at  once  to  punish 
us  and  to  preserve  us  from  the  only  evil  that  would  be 
greater. 

Do  you  know  that  John  Hunter  was  of  opinion  that 
our  manufactories  would  engender  for  us  some  new 
plague  ?  Specific  diseases  many  of  them  produce  ;  but 
as  yet  the  only  plague  which  they  have  generated  is  a 
moral  and  political  one.  My  departure  for  the  south 
is  delayed  for  about  a  month ;  chiefly  because  of  the 
King's  death,  I  must  produce  some  ex  officio  verses. 
When  you  see  them  you  will  perceive  that  you  have 
influenced  them  in  a  very  material  point.  All  here 
desire  their  kindest  remembrances. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Dr.  11.  H.  Southeij. 

Keswick,  March  11.  1820. 

My  dear  Harry, 

We  have  lost  poor  Wilsey,  and  I  have  this  day 
seen  her  laid  in  the  grave.  She  had  for  some  time 
been  sinking  gradually  under  the  weight  of  seventy- 
seven  years.  Her  memory  with  regard  to  recent 
occurrences  was  quite  gone  ;  though,  as  usual  in  such 
cases,  it  retained  clearly  all  its  early  impressions.  On 
Monday,  the  28th  last,  she  walked  as  far  as  the  church 
with  the  children,  and  went  down  with  them  into  the 
vault  of  the  Stephenson  family,  which  the  representative 
of  that  family  chooses  to  have  opened  whenever  he 
comes  to  Keswick,  for  the  purpose,  I  suppose,  of  airing 
his  ancestors.      So  long  a  walk  she  had  not   taken  for 


186  LETTERS    OF  1820. 

many  many  weeks,  but  she  came  back  in  her  usual 
good  spirits,  and  declared  that  she  was  not  tired.  The 
next  day  she  was  as  well  as  she  had  been  during  the 
winter.  On  the  Wednesday  morning  she  fell  in  getting 
out  of  bed,  and  grazed  her  forehead.  She  was  found 
when  Mrs.  C.  and  Edith  went  down  to  her  much 
shaken  and  in  a  tremulous  state.  However,  she  made 
a  good  breakfast  and  walked  about.  But  there  was  a 
manifest  change  in  her  countenance,  which  one  of  the 
maids  had  perceived  before  she  fell  out  of  bed ;  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  the  fall  was  occasioned  by  a  slight 
stroke  in  the  head.  The  head  was  inclined  all  that  day 
a  little  on  one  side,  and  she  was,  what  they  call  in  the 
country,  majjled;  that  is,  confused  in  her  intellect. 
Edmundson  saw  her,  and  said  that  if  she  had  been 
younger  or  stronger  he  would  have  bled  her,  but  in  her 
case  bleeding  might  have  produced  death.  She  kept 
up  during  the  day,  and  was  left  when  we  went  to  bed 
sleeping  apparently  well,  and  breathing  naturally.  One 
of  the  maids,  however,  slept  in  the  room  wdth  her,  as, 
indeed,  she  had  always  slept  within  call  in  case  of 
necessity  during  the  winter.  At  one  o'clock  she  awoke, 
insisted  that  it  was  time  to  get  up,  and  could  not  be 
persuaded  to  the  contrary,  —  dressed  herself,  and  made 
a  good  breakfast.  Between  six  and  seven  we  were 
called  ;  she  was  very  ill,  and  had  had  one  or  two  fits, 
and  was  then  violently  convulsed.  When  the  con- 
vulsion left  her,  her  sight,  hearing,  and  speech  were 
gone,  Edmundson  did  not  suppose  she  could  have 
lasted  six  hours,  but  she  lived  till  the  eighth  day.  The 
convulsions  returned  more  than  once  ;  and  while  they 
lasted  she  moaned  like  one  in  pain.  But  on  the  whole 
there  was  little  apparent  suffering,  and,  I  believe,  no 
return  of  intellect,  certainly  not  of  any  of  the  senses 
which  she  has  lost.  The  extraordinary  thing  is,  that 
so  feeble  and  exhausted  a  body  should   have  continued 


1820. 


KOBEUT   SOUTHEY.  187 


to  struggle  with  death  so  long,  with  no  other  sustenance 
than  now  and  then  a  teaspoonful  of  tea  or  coffee, 
indeed  little  more  than  merely  wetting  the  lips. 

For  some  time  she  had  been  among  our  cares  rather 
than  our  comforts ;  but  her  death  makes  a  blank,  and 
both  young  and  old  will  feel  her  loss ;  for  there  never 
lived  a  better  creature :  I  never  saw  any  one  with  a 
more  generous  spirit,  or  a  more  affectionate  heart. 

She  has  left  201.  to  Hartley  ;  '20/.  to  Mr.  Christian, 
of  the  Strand,  who  was  her  foster  brother ;  and  5/.  to 
each  of  the  children,  Derwent  and  Sara  Coleridge,  and 
Robert  Lovell ;  the  rest  of  her  money  in  legacies  to 
friends  and  distant  cousins  here  of  51.  and  lOl. 

It  was  gratifying  to  see  how  much  interest  her 
illness  excited  among  the  respectable  people  of  the 
place  ;  those  who  had  been  taught  to  respect  her  by 
their  parents,  and  those  who  remembered  her  when  she 
was  the  handsomest  young  woman  in  Keswick,  and 
more  "  looked  upon  "  than  any  of  her  contemporaries ; 
her  good  conduct  through  life  having  been  as  re- 
markable as  her  person  was  in  her  youth. 

She  had  been  beyond  this  circle  of  mountains,  but 
was  never  out  of  sight  of  them.  Carlisle  was  the 
farthest  point  of  her  travels,  and  there  she  had  been 
but  once.  The  chance  which  brought  me  here  con- 
tributed very  materially  to  the  comfort  of  her  age.  We 
have  been  here  nearly  seventeen  years,  Mrs.  Coleridge 
twenty,  and  in  all  that  time  I  never  knew  her  do  an 
unkind  thing  or  say  an  unkind  word. 

Love  to  Louisa.  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  the  children  : 
the  youngest  will  be  old  enough  to  be  handled  by  male 
hands.     God  bless  you. 

It.  S. 


188  LETTEUS   OF  1820. 

To  John  RicJcmarii  Esq. 

Keswick,  March  27.  1820. 

My  dear  R., 

I  am  very  sorry  for  the  news  which  your  letter 
communicates.  Tlie  improved  state,  as  it  is  called,  of 
medical  knowledge,  is  little  more  than  a  discovery  of 
our  ignorance.  And  I  suspect  that  we  lose  more  by 
want  of  faith  in  the  patient,  than  we  gain  by  any  in- 
crease of  skill  in  the  physician.  Yet,  I  have  a  hope 
that  we  shall  one  day  discover  the  real  nature  of  fever, 
and  by  ascertaining  the  cause  and  seat  of  the  disease, 
understand  how  to  remedy  it. 

Turner  has  sent  me  an  unfavourable  opinion  upon 
my  claims.  Twice  in  my  life  has  the  caprice  of  a  tes- 
tator cut  me  off  from  what  the  law  would  have  given 
me,  if  it  had  taken  its  course ;  and  now  the  law  inter- 
feres and  cuts  me  off  from  what  would  have  been  given 
me  by  a  testator.  It  is,  however,  a  clear  gain  to  escape 
a  suit  in  Chancery,  and  the  vexation  which  that  would 
have  brought  with  it. 

Brougham's  advantage  was  through  the  creation  of 
new  freeholds,  chiefly  enfranchisements  made  by  Lord 
Thanet.  The  Lowthers  will  beat  him  at  this  game 
next  time.  Their  popularity  has  much  risen  since  the 
former  election. 

You  will  have  Wesley  in  a  few  days,  and  you  will 
see  in  it  strange  cases  of  the  mind  upon  the  body,  and 
again  of  the  body  upon  the  mind.  Some  I  can  under- 
stand, but  there  are  others  which  I  cannot,  and  yet  be- 
lieve them  I  must,  or  give  up  all  trust  in  human  testi- 
mony. I  do  not  know  whether  I  have  employed  my 
time  in  tlie  best  way  in  composing  this  book,  (for  it 
has  been  a  work  of  considerable  labour,  so  scattered 
were  the  materials,)  but  it  will  show  you  the  ways  and 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  189 

feelings  and  notions  of  a  set  of  people  of  whom  most 
readers  will  previously  have  known  as  little  as  they  did 
of  the  Tupinambas.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  April  12.  1820. 

My  dear  G., 

My  "Vision  of  Judgement"  is  not  finished.  I  have 
made  a  fair  transcript  of  it  as  far  as  it  is  written  (260 
lines),  and  may  probably  add  something  to  it  before  my 
departure.  But  I  think  it  will  not  do  for  publication 
at  this  time;  because  such  an  event  as  the  King's  death, 
while  it  is  recent,  is  too  affecting  and  too  solemn  a  re- 
ality (in  the  present  case)  to  be  made  the  subject  of  a 
fiction.  This,  you  will  say,  I  ought  to  have  considered 
before  I  began  to  write.  Very  true,  but  then  I  should 
not  have  written  upon  the  subject.  For  certain  as  it 
was  that  everybody  would  be  putting  their  wits  in 
requisition,  I  should  not  have  chosen  to  send  anything 
into  the  world  upon  such  an  occasion  unless  it  were 
altogether  different  from  all  other  compositions  that 
were  to  be  expected. 

If,  however,  my  labour  should  be  lost  for  the  present 
(and  if  the  objection  to  its  publication  strikes  any  per- 
son to  whom  I  shall  show  it,  as  it  does  myself,  I  shall 
certainly  lay  it  aside),  it  will  not  be  thrown  away.  The 
metrical  experiment  which  I  have  long  been  desirous  of 
making,  has  here  been  fairly  made,  and  with  complete 
success.  I  have  proved  that  hexameters  may  as  well  be 
written  in  English  as  in  German  ;  that  they  are  in  no 
respect  dissuited  to   the  genius  of  our  language  ;  and 


190  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

that  the  measure  is  full,  stately,  and  sonorous,  capable 
of  great  variety,  great  sweetness,  and  great  strength. 
I  shall  certainly  finish  the  poem,  that  it  may  be  ready 
for  publication  after  such  lapse  of  time  as  may  remove 
the  objection  to  its  appearance. 

I  am  now  filling  up  the  paper  upon  the  Churches, 
which  I  expect  to  dispatch  by  the  next  post ;  this  being 
the  ways  and  means  upon  which  I  have  to  count  in 
London.  And  I  take  work  of  the  same  kind  to  occupy 
me  at  Streatham,  that  I  may  not  be  run  short  in  the 
summer.  Wesley's  life  must  sell  better  than  I  expect 
it  to  do,  if  it  balances  my  account  with  Longman,  for  I 
am  sadly  on  the  wrong  side  of  his  ledger.  I  know  not 
whether  you  will  attribute  the  perversity  to  me,  or  my 
fortune,  but  a  perversity  in  one  or  the  other,  or  both, 
there  is.  Twenty  years  ago  when  I  would  gladly  have 
written  poems  as  fast  as  the  printer  could  carry  them 
through  the  press,  I  must  have  starved  if  I  had  done 
so,  and  during  seven  long  years  I  wrote  reviews  at 
seven  pounds  per  sheet  royal,  because  "  Thalaba"  and 
*'  Madoc"  were  lying  in  the  publisher's  warehouse. 
Now  poetry  would  pay  me  better  than  anything  else, 
but  the  inclination  for  it  is  gone ;  and  if  it  were  not 
with  a  view  to  profit,  I  do  not  believe  that  I  should 
ever  finish  either  of  the  poems  which  I  have  begun,  and 
am  quite  certain  that  I  should  never  have  courage  to 
undertake  another.  That  motive,  however,  is  likely  to 
operate  with  increasing  force  as  long  as  I  live  ;  and  as  I 
am  likely,  according  to  all  human  probability,  to  die  in 
the  harness,  I  have  only  to  hope  that  my  strength  may 
not  fail  me  till  the  last.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


ISi'O.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  191 

To  the  Rev.  Neville  JVhite,  §'c. 

Keswick,  April  15.  1820. 

My  dear  Neville, 

My  movements  toward  Norfolk  must  depend  in 
some  degree  upon  the  time  when  Sir  H.  Bunbury  and 
Major  Moore  can  receive  me.  I  shall  write  to  them 
from  London,  and  propose  to  be  with  him  in  the  last 
week  of  May,  or  the  first  of  June,  which  will  allow 
me  either  to  come  from  his  house  to  Cambridge  at 
your  time,  or  to  visit  Cambridge  first,  and  then  pro- 
ceed to  him.  At  all  events,  I  will  be  with  you  at 
Norwich,  though  it  can  only  be  for  a  couple  of  days ; 
and  it  is  my  full  intention,  if  possible,  to  see  you  at 
Cambridge  also.  I  leave  home  on  Monday,  and  shall 
be  ten  days  on  the  road  to  town.  You  shall  hear  from 
thence  as  soon  as  my  movements  can  be  fixed. 

Remember  me  to  Tillbrook  and  Chauncey  Townsend. 
Tell  the  latter  that  at  present  I  have  no  time  to  write 
to  him  ;  but  that  I  hope  to  see  him  in  the  last  week  of 
May,  and  that  if  he  is  in  London  before  that  time,  he 
will  find  me  in  Q.  Ann  Street. 

One  word  of  advice  before  I  conclude.  I  was  always 
apprehensive  that  you  would  injure  your  health  by  too 
much  and  too  anxious  an  attention  to  your  studies. 
Take  heed,  or  rather  take  warning,  for  the  future. 
The  immediate  object  is  effected.  You  have  obtained 
your  ordination  ;  and  now  remember,  that  to  become  a 
critical  scholar  requires  the  labour  of  half  a  life.  Do 
not  aim,  therefore,  at  what  is  impossible.  Your  object 
is  to  be  a  useful  clergyman,  not  a  learned  one ;  to  un- 
dertake the  cure  of  souls,  not  to  engage  in  polemical 
service,  or  nice  disquisitions  in  philology.  There  is  a 
body  of  Divinity  in  our  own  language,  such  as  I  verily 
believe  is   not  to  be   paralleled  in   an}'  other.     Study 


192  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

there  and  drink  of  the  Scriptures,  and  be  content  with 
as  small  a  quantity  of  Greek  and  Latin  as  will  suffice 
to  carry  you  through  the  academical  forms.  Your  first 
duty  is  to  take  care  of  your  health,  and  you  need  not 
be  told  that  anxiety  is  a  slow,  sure  poison. 

God  bless  you. 

Yours  affectionately, 

R.    SOUTHEY. 


To  Miss  Catherine  Soutliey. 

Streatham,  Thursday,  May  4.  1820. 

My  dear  Kate, 

Since  I  have  been  in  London  I  have  very  often 
wished  that  you,  and  Isabel,  and  Bertha  were  with  me 
for  a  little  while,  to  see  what  a  number  of  strange 
things  there  are  to  be  seen  in  this  great  overgrown 
town.  London  is  so  large  a  place  that  if  the  whole 
lake  of  Keswick,  and  the  whole  vale  from  the  end  of 
the  Lake  to  Bassenthwaite,  and  from  Skiddaw  and 
Latrigg  on  one  side  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains  on  the 
other  were  covered  with  houses,  altogether  would  not 
make  so  great  a  city  as  London  by  one  half.  Think 
then  what  a  huge  place  it  must  be ;  and  all  full  of 
streets,  with  no  gardens  or  fields ;  nothing  to  be  seen 
but  buildings  on  every  side,  and  stone  pavements  under 
your  feet,  and  such  a  smoky  air  overhead  that  you  can 
hardly  see  what  a  blue  sky  is.  And  then  such  a  num- 
ber of  carts  and  carriages,  going  all  day  long  through 
the  streets,  and  almost  all  night  too;  and  such  thou- 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTIIllY.  193 

sands  and  ten  thousands  of  people  ;  from  morning  till 
night  the  great  streets  are  as  full  as  Keswick  is  upon 
fair-day. 

I  arrived  in  London  on  May  Day,  which  is  a  holiday 
for  the  chimney  sweepers.  All  the  chimney  sweepers, 
little  and  great,  on  that  day  are  dressed  as  fine  as  they 
can  make  themselves,  with  ribbons  of  all  colours,  and 
a  great  deal  of  gilding  about  them,  and  feathers  in 
their  caps ;  and  they  go  about  the  streets  with  a  wooden 
thing  in  one  hand  (such  as  the  churchwardens  carry 
about  in  the  church  to  collect  money  for  a  brief),  and 
their  brush  in  the  other ;  and  with  these  they  make  a 
clatter,  and  beg  money  from  those  who  stop  to  look  at 
them.  They  have  generally  a  green  man  in  company 
who  is  also  called  "  Jack  in  the  Bush,"  because  he  is 
in  the  middle  of  a  green  bush,  which  covers  him  all 
over,  head  and  all,  so  that  you  can  see  nothing  but  his 
feet,  and  he  goes  dancing  with  the  rest.  This  bush  is 
ornamented  with  ribbons,  and  I  have  seen  them  in 
former  times  half  covered  with  bright  pewter  pots  and 
dishes,  which  it  must  have  been  a  great  fatigue  to  carry 
about  and  dance  under  their  weight,  especially  in  a  hot 
day,  and  being  so  shut  up  from  the  air.  This  Jack  in 
the  Bush  is  a  comical  sight,  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  it 
does  harm  by  frightening  horses :  a  poor  curate  in  the 
adjoining  parish  of  Tooting,  the  other  day  was  thrown 
in  consequence  under  the  wheels  of  a  stage  coach,  and 
it  is  not  yet  known  whether  he  will  recover  from  the 
dreadful  hurts  which  he  received. 

But  how  you  would  like  to  see  these  chimney 
sweepers  that  are  so  very  fine !  I  have  seen  you  and 
Bell  and  Bertha  look  somewhat  like  them  when  you 
had  dressed  yourselves  up ;  but  you  were  never  half  so 
fine,  because  you  had  no  gilt  finery  about  your  clothes. 
Moreover  the  sweeps  beautify  their  faces  in  a  re- 
VOL.  III.  O 


194  LETTERS    OF  1820. 

markablc  manner.  I  will  tell  you  how  to  do  it  if  you 
wish  to  be  as  fine  as  they  are.  You  know  their  faces 
are  very  smutty :  they  let  the  smut  stay  that  they  may 
be  known  for  chimney  sweepers :  therefore  to  be  like 
them  you  must  first  rub  some  soot  upon  your  faces. 
Next,  you  must  rub  some  whiting  upon  your  cheeks 
and  forehead,  that  there  may  be  great  white  patches  in 
the  middle  of  the  smut ;  and  then  upon  the  white  you 
must  rub  a  little  rose  pink,  and  upon  that  again  here 
and  there  you  must  stick  some  beaten  gold,  so  that  the 
face  may  be  black  and  white,  and  purple,  and  gilt :  if  you 
do  this,  you  will  then  be  as  fine  as  so  many  chimney 
sweepers  on  the  first  of  May.  I  must  not  forget  to 
observe  that  the  chimney  sweepers  make  a  feast  with 
the  money  which  is  given  them ;  and  they  are  so  fond 
of  their  holiday  that  they  make  the  first  of  May  last 
the  whole  of  the  week ;  so  you  may  tell  Edith  that  her 
birthday  is  not  yet  over  in  London. 

If  I  were  to  describe  the  extraordinary  things  which 
I  have  seen  in  the  shops  only  while  walking  along  the 
streets,  a  whole  letter  would  not  afford  sufficient  room. 
I  will  only  tell  you,  that  in  one  window  I  saw  a  great 
many  shaddocks,  fresh  from  the  West  Indies,  which 
fruit  is  like  an  orange,  but  as  big  as  Cuthbert's  head  ; 
and  that  I  saw  two  horns  of  the  narwhale  or  sea- 
unicorn,  one  on  each  side  of  a  shop  door. 

I  came  here  yesterday,  and  return  to  town  to-morrow, 
when  I  am  to  breakfast  with  Miss  Wordsworth  on  the 
way.  There  is  no  room  here  to  tell  you  about  your 
little  Welsh  uncles,  Alfred  and  Southey,  nor  about 
your  little  Welsh  aunt,  Georgiana.  It  is  Isabel's  turn 
to  have  the  next  letter,  and  then  I  will  write  all  about 
them,  and  about  my  little  god-daughter.  Bertha  Vardon, 
who  is  your  rival  for  the  love  of  Mr.  Nash,  and  calls 
him  man  mm.     However,  don't  you  be   too  jealous ;  I 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  195 

shall  bring  Mr.  Nash  home  with  me,  and  that  will  be  a 

great  advantage  for  you 

God  bless  you  my  dear  child. 

Your  affectionate  father, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  Miss  Katherine  Southey. 

Cambridge,  Sunday,  May  28.  1820. 

My  dear  Kate, 

Your  letter  followed  me  to  Cambridge,  where  I 
received  it  this  morning  at  breakfast,  and  a  great  com- 
fort it  was.  For  although  all  the  intelligence  which 
came  from  home  had  been  good,  still  I  looked  uneasily 
for  what  the  next  post  might  bring.  Had  it  not  been 
for  this  sort  of  anxiety,  which  you  know  nothing  at  all 
about,  I  dare  say  I  should  have  written  some  queer 
letters  to  you  and  your  sisters.  But  I  am  not  so 
comical  a  papa  anywhere  else  as  at  home. 

You,  and  Bell,  and  Bertha  are  all  very  good  girls, 
and  have  written  me  very  nice  letters,  which  have 
pleased  me  very  much.  One  or  two  of  my  friends  who 
know  you  all  three,  have  seen  your  letters,  and  said 
what  good  girls  you  were,  and  how  nicely  you  wrote. 
Nevertheless  it  will  still  be  proper  for  me  not  to  forget 
that  receipt  which  we  used  to  talk  about  for  the  pickle. 
You  and  Isabel,  I  dare  say,  remember  it.  Very  soon 
I  shall  begin  buying  the  other  things  which  I  am  to 
bring  home,  such  as  the  books,  and  the  prayer  books, 
and  the  pretty  things  for  Cuthbert.  You  may  depend 
upon  my  returning  the  last  week  in  June,  if  it  please 
God  that  I  continue  well. 

O  2 


196  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

Among  the  comical  things  which  I  had  to  tell  you 
all,  was  how  I  went  to  St.  Paul's  Church,  when  a 
sermon  was  preached  for  the  benefit  of  the  Children  of 
the  Clergy,  on  which  occasion  there  is  the  grandest 
church  music  ever  performed  in  tliese  kingdoms :  and 
there  was  a  fat  lady  before  me  very  finely  dressed  in  a 
velvet  pelisse ;  but  she  sat  so  that  I  could  see  her 
stumpy  grey  bristles  under  a  brown  wig,  and  could 
not  help  seeing  a  dirty  under  petticoat  through  her 
pocket-hole.  Remember  therefore  when  you  are  an 
old  maid,  or  an  old  wife,  that  you  have  your  wig  made 
long  enough  to  cover  your  poll,  and  that  you  never 
wear  dirty  petticoats,  either  upper  or  under. 

Yesterday  I  came  here  to  dinner,  and  dined  with 
Mr.  White.  To-day  I  have  been  twice  to  church,  first 
to  hear  Dr.  Clarke,  the  traveller,  preach ;  secondly,  to 
hear  Mr.  Benson,  a  brother  of  that  lady  with  whom  I 
travelled  in  the  coach  from  Keswick.  He  is  a  very 
admirable  preacher.  Now  I  am  going  to  dine  with 
Mr.  Townsend,  and  there  I  shall  meet  Mr.  Francis, 
and  Mr.  Noel,  and  the  Mr.  Kennaway.  To-morrow  I 
dine  with  Mr.  Tillbrook;  and  go  back  to  London  on 
Tuesday. 

My  Kate,  do  you  know  that  I  am  taking  it  into 
serious  deliberation  whether  I  shall  or  shall  not  be 
made  a  Doctor ;  and  as  it  is  said  the  woman  who 
deliberates  is  lost,  so  I  begin  to  think  that  the  man 
who  deliberates  is  likely  to  be  Doctored.  I  have  been 
asked  on  the  part  of  the  Vice-Chancellor  at  Oxford  if 
it  would  be  agreeable  to  me  to  accept  of  this  honour; 
and  as  it  is  to  be  conferred  upon  Lord  Hill  and  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  at  the  same  time,  and,  perhaps, 
upon  Sir  Walter  Scott,  this  sort  of  company  certainly 
tempts  me.  I  shall  not  make  up  my  mind  without 
consulting  one  or  two  friends  ;  some  expense  in  money, 
and   about  three   days   of  precious   time   being   to   be 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTHET.  197 

weighed  aofainst  what  is  of  no  other  use  or  value  than 
as  a  mark  of  very  high  respect  on  the  part  of  the 
University. 

Your  dutiful  father, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  Mrs.  Hughes.* 

July,  1820. 

Dear  Madam, 

Since  the  arrival  of  your  letter  I  have  waited 
patiently  in  expectation  of  Mr.  Hughes's  book ;  looking 
confidently  for  it  in  the  first  parcel  which  I  should 
receive  from  Murray.  It  reached  me  yesterday  ;  and 
I  have  been  very  much  amused  and  gratified  in  the 
perusal.  How  enviable  a  talent  does  your  son  possess 
of  communicating  what  he  wishes  to  the  eye,  as  well 
as  to  the  understanding.  As  I  do  not  know  where  to 
address  him,  I  enclose  a  letter  of  thanks  under  cover 
to  our  friend,  Mrs.  Company's  lord  and  master. 

I  hope  you  are  not  in  London  during  this  delightful 

*  The  mother  —  the  excellent  mother,  now  departed,  —  of  the 
clever  and  witty  John  Hughes  of  Oriel  (as  he  was  called  in  my 
Christ  Church  days), — that  John  Hughes,  the  author  of  "An  Itine- 
rary of  Provence  and  the  Rhone,"  the  praise  of  which  is  in  the 
Introduction  to  Quentin  Durward,  where  his  friend  Sir  Walter 
Scott  speaks  of  him  as  a  poet,  a  draughtsman,  and  a  scholar.  This 
is  that  same  John  Hughes  whose  "  Old  Tom  of  Oxford's  Affec- 
tionate Condolence  with  the  Ultras"  is  eulogized  in  the  Doctob, 
&c.,  where  Southey  says,  "  I  request  him  to  accept  the  assurance 
of  my  high  consideration  and  good  will.  I  shake  hands  with  him 
mentally  and  cordially,  and  entreat  hiiu  to  write  more  songs,  such 
as  gladden  the  hearts  of  true  Englishmen."    Vol.  iv.  p.  384 

o  3 


198  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

season,  which  is  what  summer  used  to  be  in  old  times. 
We  had  really  an  honest  old  English  April  this  year, 
with  sunshine  and  warm  showers;  and  an  honest  old 
English  May,  such  as  to  make  the  poetry  of  former 
days  intelligible.  You  appear  to  hope  that  old  English 
feelings  may  also  be  reviving.  I  wish  they  may  ;  but 
I  confess  that  I  cannot  think  so.  There  are  so  many 
disorganising  and  destroying  principles  at  work,  that 
were  it  not  for  a  reliance  upon  Providence,  I  should 
say  neither  the  Church  of  England  nor  the  Monarchy 
would  last  another  half  century. 

The  more  however  I  apprehend  tliis,  the  more  I  feel 
the  duty  of  making  every  exertion  which  may  lead  to 
avert  it. 

!Mrs.  Southey  desires  me  to  present  her  remem- 
brances. I  wish  we  could  hear  that  you  thought  of 
visiting  the  Lakes. 

Believe  me,  dear  madam,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obliged  and  obedient  servant, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  Messrs.  Longman  Sf  Co. 

Keswick,  July  11.  1820. 

Dear  Sir, 

The  "  History  of  Lope  de  Aguirre "  is  not 
sent,  because,  in  revising  it,  I  want  a  "  Spanish  History 
of  Venezuela,"  by  Oviedo  *,  which  is  referred  to  by 
Depons  and  Humboldt,  and  which  contains  documents 
concerning  Aguirre  not  to  be  found  elsewhere.     This 

*  "  Oviedo  y  Banos."  Southey  states  in  the  preface  to  this 
little  volume,  that  after  diligent  inquiry  he  had  not  been  able  to 
obtain  it.  He  did  so  afterwards,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  "Spanish 
and  Tortuguese  Catalogue." 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  199 

writer  must  not  be  confounded  with  an  older  historian 
of  the  Indies,  of  the  same  name,  whose  work  I  possess. 
Perhaps  you  can  procure  the  book  for  me.  I  inquired 
for  it  in  vain  in  Mr.  Gooden's  collection,  and  in  Lord 
Holland's.  My  next  application  would  have  been  to 
Mr.  Heber,  if  I  had  seen  him  during  the  latter  part  of 
my  stay  in  town,  but  we  missed  each  otlier  respectively. 
I  am  going  to  send  a  parcel  of  his  books  directed  to 
your  care. 

The  life  of  George  Fox*,  and  the  origin  and  progress 
of  Quakerism,  would  form  as  curious  a  book  as  the  life 
of  Wesley.  I  wish  you  would  collect  materials  for  it, 
that  I  may  digest  them,  and  proceed  with  the  work  as 
leisure  and  inclination  may  serve.  The  Quakers  I 
know  have  cut  out  many  things  from  George  Fox's 
Journal  in  the  later  editions,  because  they  were 
ashamed  of  them  —  it  is  essential,  therefore,  to  procure 
the  first  edition;  and  of  Sewell's  "History  of  the 
Quakers"  also,  which  I  suspect  has  undergone  a  like 
expurgation.  When  you  can  meet  with  these,  secure 
them  ;  meantime  the  current  editions  may  serve  ;  one 
of  Sewell  I  have  :  send  me  that  of  Fox  ;  William  Penn's 
Works;  Barclay's  "Apology,"  and  Gough's  "History 
of  the  Quakers."  With  these  I  can  lay  my  foundations. 
I  see  the  arrangement  of  the  book  distinctly  enough, 
but  not  its  extent  —  wliether  one  volume  or  two.  There 
are  some  books  connected  with  the  subject  which  must 
necessarily  be  very  rare.  1  will  set  down  their  titles  as 
I  meet  with  them.      It  will  be  better  not  to  an-'.ounce 

the  work  till  it  is  in  forwardness 

Yours,  8cc. 

Robert  Southey. 

*  The  MSS.  preparations  for  George  Fox's  Life  are  in  ]Mis.s 
Southey's  hands. 

o  4 


200  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

To  John  Rickman,  Esq.,  §v. 

Keswick,  July,  1820. 

My  dear  R., 

I  have  opened  one  of  the  red-books  with  which 
Mr.  Phillips  provided  me,  with  notes  multorum  generum 
from  the  Acta  Sanctorum.  Among  them  is  an  odd 
passage  which  seems  to  imply  that  a  sort  of  polyandri- 
anism  existed  in  Galloway  as  late  as  the  twelfth  century  ; 
perhaps,  if  it  be  so,  the  last  remains  of  that  system 
which  Caesar  found  among  the  Britons.  It  is  very 
certain  that  the  Druidical  religion  existed  till  that  time, 
and  much  later,  in  Wales.  Davies  has  proved  this 
beyond  all  controverting,  by  passages  from  the  Welsh 
poets,  in  his  "  Mythology  of  the  Druids,"  which  is 
much  the  most  curious  book  that  has  ever  been  written 
upon  Welsh  affairs. 

My  intention  is  to  begin  the  "Moral  and  Literary 
History  of  England"  with  the  English  language;  that 
is,  not  to  go  farther  back  than  the  earliest  extant  com- 
position in  that  language,  except  as  far  as  a  view  of  the 
state  of  things  at  that  commencement  renders  a  sum- 
mary retrospect  unavoidable.  If  this  were  not  a 
necessary  determination  for  me,  as  not  understanding 
Scixon,  it  would  be  a  proper  one  on  other  accounts;  as 
tiic  book  is  intended  to  be  not  for  antiquarians  and  bib- 
liographers, but  for  general  readers.  The  collections 
for  it  are  made  at  leisure,  at  loose  times — odds  and  ends 
of  time  ;  more  matter  of  amusement  and  dissipation 
than  of  business.  I  am  busy  in  finishing  the  intro- 
ductory chapter  for  the   "  Peninsular  War." 

Revolutions  in  Italy  will  do  no  harm  in  that  country; 
but  if  Austria  should  attempt  to  crush  the  revolutionary 
spirit  by  arms,  and  France  interfere,  —  which  any  French 
Government,  whether  Bourbon's  or  Bonaparte's,  would 


1820. 


ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  201 


eagerly  do  when  fair  occasion  invited, — then  I  know 
not  what  would  prevent  a  general  war,  except  a  general 
explosion  on  the  Continent,  and  that  indeed  seems 
more  than  likely.  The  only  hope  then  would  be  that 
it  might  be  so  general  as  to  preclude  all  possibility  of 
our  interference,  so  they  might  then  cut  each  other's 
throats  with  fraternal  hatred,  and  perhaps  we  might 
grow  wise  by  looking  on.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Messrs.  Longman  ^'  Co. 

Keswick,  July  26.  1820. 

Dear  Sir, 

This  proposed  work  of  Mr.  James  Henderson  is 
the  book  which  I  mentioned  to  you  when  I  was  last  in 
Paternoster  Row.  The  author  says,  in  his  proposals, 
that  "  little  authentic  intelligence  (concerning  Brazil) 
has  hitherto  been  published,  and  the  accounts  we  have 
of  its  discovery,  colonization,  divisions,  government, 
productions,  are  vague,  and  frequently  contradictory." 
He  therefore  promises  to  give  "  a  genuine  and  well- 
authenticated  history  from  original  documents."  Now, 
if  when  he  wrote  these  proposals  he  knew  nothing  of 
my  work,  it  is  plain  that  he  must  have  known  little  of 
what  has  been  written  concerning  Brazil,  and  lived 
little  with  persons  who  take  any  interest  concerning  its 
history.  If  he  did  know  of  my  history,  or  if,  knowing 
it  as  he  now  does,  he  continues  to  circulate  the  same 
proposals,  the  language  which  it  contains  is  exactly  that 
which  a  plagiarist  would  use  who  meant  to  make  up 
his  own  book  by  pillaging  mine.  Tliese  remarks  only 
aflect  the  respectability  of  the  author ;   but  as  for  his 


202  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

works  interfering  with  mine,  it  can  do  so  no  more  than 
an  abridgment  would  do,  which  any  nian  has  a  right 
to  make  (as  the  Liw  stands),  and  wliich  I  have  no  doubt 
this  will  prove  to  be  in  the  whole  historical  part.  In 
fact,  there  is  no  other  connected  history  of  Brazil  than 
mine,  either  printed  or  in  manuscript,  and  without  the 
assistance  which  he  can  derive  from  mine,  and  mine 
only,  he  might  as  well  ^^retend  to  write  a  history  of 
the  moon. 

There  can  be  no  reason  why  Mr.  Clarkson  should 
not  be  applied  to  for  any  books  which  he  may  have  it 
in  his  power  to  lend  me,  being,  as  I  am,  upon  familiar 
and  friendly  terms  with  him.  1  believe  I  told  you  that 
I  have  the  second  edition  of  "  Sewell."  The  current 
one  of  G.  Fox's  "  Journal "  (I  apprehend  there  is 
always  one  on  sale)  will  answer  my  purposes  to  go  on 
with,  only  I  must  compare  it  with  the  first  before  the 
work  is  completed,  and  wuth  this  and  Gough  I  can 
begin.  Yours,  &c., 

Robert  Southey. 


To  a  W.  W.  Wy7in,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  August  16.  1820. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

It  seems  very  strange  tliat  the  Duke  of  Glou- 
cester should  give  you  information  of  any  projects  or 
intentions  of  mine.  The  state  of  the  case  is  this  : 
Mrs.  Hastings  being  very  desirous  that  a  life  of  her 
husband  should  be  written,  and  a  selection  made  from 
his  papers,  consulted  Sir  George  Dallas  about  it,  and 
he  proposed  Sir  James  Mackintosh  as  a  person  of  dis- 


1820. 


ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  203 


tinguished  talents,  high  reputation,  and  conversant  with 
Indian  affairs,  though   there  might  be  an  objection   to 
him  as  being  possibly  disposed  to  think  with  Mr.  Fox 
on  that  as  on  other  subjects.     Mrs.  Hastings,  however, 
desired  that  inquiry  might  be  made  whether  I  would 
undertake   it,  because   she   knew   what  her   husband's 
opinion  of  me  had  been,  and  that  he  would   have   pre- 
ferred me  for  such  a   task  to  any  other   person.     Sir 
Gr.  Dallas  spoke  to  Murray,  and  two  or  three  days  only 
before  I  left  town   Murray  asked  me    the  question.      I 
saw  at  once  the  splendour  of  the  subject,  the  extent 
and  variety  of  matter  which  it   included,  and  in  what 
manner  it  might  be  arranged,  and,  having  a  vague  know- 
ledge of  the  leading  facts  of  Hastings'  life,  but  a  great 
admiration  of  his  talents,  and  of  all  that  I  had  heard 
of  him  in  his  private  character,  and  believing  moreover 
that  he  had  been  vilely  persecuted,  I  expressed  a  willing- 
ness to  the  business.      My  place  in  the  mail  was  taken 
at  this  time,  and  all  my  arrangements  made  accordingly. 
On   the  morning  of  my  departure,  Murray  went  with 
me  to  Sir  G.  Dallas's.      There  I  learnt  that  the  mate- 
rials were  as  ample  as  could  be  desired,  the  most  im- 
portant being  a  journal  which  was  kept  by  Hastings, 
I  believe,  from  the  time  when  he  first  went  to  India. 
Sir  George  afterwards  called  at  my  brother's,  and  left 
Avord,  written  on  her  card,  that  Mrs.  Hastings  wished 
particularly   to  see  me  the  next  day  ;    but  this  could 
not  be,  for  I  had  engagements  at  Birmingham,  and  was 
to    meet    my  Aunt    Southey  there  on    her    way    from 
Taunton.      So    there    the   matter  ended  ;    except  that 
Murray  sent  me  down  a  parcel  of  books  for  preliminary 
reading,  and  that  I  hold  myself  engaged  to  it  as  soon 
as  the  *'  History  of  the  War  "  is  completed. 

I  have  no  fear  of  the  labour,  and  none  of  any 
difficulty  in  writing  with  perfect  integrity.  If,  in- 
deed,  I  had  any  such  apprehension,  I  would  at  once 


204  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

decline  tlie  task.  It  is  a  noble  subject,  and  admits  in 
perfection  of  that  ornamental  relief  which  it  is  always 
delightful  to  meet  with,  and  which  I  delight  in  intro- 
ducing. If  it  extends  to  two  quartos  (as  I  suppose  it 
will),  I  shall  have  two  thousand  guineas.  If  things  go 
on  quietly,  and  I  live  and  do  well,  there  is  a  fair 
prospect  of  my  realising  five  thousand  pounds  in  the 
next  five  years. 

I  am  as  little  fond  of  prophesying  evil  as  you  are ; 
mine,  indeed,  is  a  cheerful  nature,  and  I  hardly  know 
what  it  is  to  despond.  With  regard  to  the  present 
crisis,  my  best  grounds  of  hope,  indeed,  is  not  of  the 
pleasantest  kind,  it  being  simply  this  :  that  as  things 
must  be  worse  before  they  can  be  better,  and  that  the 
sooner  the  abscess  breaks,  the  more  strength  will  there 
be  in  the  constitution  to  struggle  through  the  disease. 
We  are  already  under  the  tyranny  of  the  Press, 
and  as  that  tyranny  must  inevitably  destroy  itself, 
the  question  how  much  or  how  little  evil  we  must 
go  through  before  that  good  end  is  arrived  at,  is  a 
momentous  concern  to  the  present  generation.  We 
must  hope  the  best,  and  do  the  best  we  can.  In  the 
present  filthy  business  I  have  only  to  wait  the  event, 
and  I  shall  be  glad  if  the  storm  breaks  while  you  are 
far  from  the  sphere  of  its  action,  for  something  as  bad 
as  Lord  G.  Gordon's  riots  may  reasonably  be  expected. 
Bennet  (the  Wilts  B.)  Bill,  which  passed  through  both 
Houses  without  a  single  observation  on  either  side,  and 
perhaps  was  hardly  known  to  the  Ministers,  certainly 
not  thought  of  by  them,  may  prove  the  salvation  of  the 
Government. 

Your  godson,  thank  God  !  thrives  as  we  could  wish, 
totters  about  with  sufficient  confidence  and  strength, 
articulates  half  words,  and  makes  himself  perfectly  un- 
derstood by  the  help  of  looks  and  gestures.     He  is  as 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  205 

fine  and  hopeful  a  boy,  of  his  age,  as  your  Watkin,  and 
there  is  no  saying  more. 

I  saw  Shadwell  after  leaving  you.  The  Court  of 
King's  Bench  gave  Lord  Somerville  full  possession  of 
the  estates,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  testator's  in- 
tention. Had  he  died  intestate,  I  should  still  have 
succeeded  to  the  Southey  estates,  which  remain  unsold, 
as  his  heir-at-law,  but  he  has  willed  them  away.  So 
be  it.  I  can  do  without  them.  There  would  be  a 
decent  provision  for  my  family  were  I  to  die  this  night 
— a  few  years  would  enable  me  to  make  it  a  good  one. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Walter  Savage  Landor,  Esq, 

Keswick,  August  14.  1820. 

My  dear  Landor, 

Ere  this  I  trust  you  will  have  received  Words- 
worth's "  Peter  Bell,"  his  "  Waggoner,"  and  his  "  Son- 
nets on  the  River  Dee,"  &c.,  the  last  volume  of  the 
"  History  of  Brazil,"  and  the  *'  Life  of  Wesley."  They 
were  detained  some  time  for  the  chance  that  your  bro- 
ther Robert  might  have  occasion  to  send  anything  in 
the  same  package. 

After  having  been  nearly  three  months  from  home, 
you  may  suppose  with  what  pleasure  1  returned  to  my 
own  family,  my  own  fire-side,  and  my  own  pursuits. 
During  my  absence,  to  gratify  others  rather  than  myself, 
I  went  to  Oxford  to  receive  an  honorary  degree.  Ex- 
cept that  I  passed  through  it  twice  in  stage  coaches  — 
once  after  the  inhabitants  \vere  gone  to  bed,  and  once 


206  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

after  they  had  got  up — I  had  not  been  there  since  I 
left  in  1794,  with  the  intention  of  bidding  farewell,  not 
to  the  University  alone,  but  to  England  and  to  Europe, 
and  trying  an  Utopian  scheme  in  the  back  settlements 
of  the  United  States.  After  the  business  of  the  theatre 
was  over  I  went  into  Christ  Church  Walk,  and  there 
chewed  the  cud  of  remembrance.  Except  Phillimore,  the 
Professor  of  Law,  I  did  not  meet  with  one  contemporary 
of  whom  I  had  even  the  slightest  knowledge.  In  the 
evening,  or  rather  at  night,  I  dined  in  Balliol  Hall  with 
the  Master  and  Fellows,  —  all  being  so  much  my  juniors 
that  the  master  himself  did  not  enter  the  college  till 
some  years  after  I  had  left  it.  There  was  no  person 
to  recognise  me  but  the  porter,  a  poor  fellow,  who,  in 
my  time,  had  served  as  hair  dresser,  and  supplied  the 
college  with  fruit.  His  wife  had  been  my  laundress; 
and  the  poor  infirm  old  woman  sat  up  till  midnight, 
that  she  might  see  me  when  I  was  let  out. 

Ill  as  you  must  think  of  the  rabhle  and  of  the  Whigs, 
who  have  long  since  proved  that  it  is  possible  to  be  at 
the  same  time  odious  and  contemptible,  you  cannot  but 
marvel  at  the  effect  which  the  modern  Messalina  has 
produced  in  London.  Ballad  singers  go  about  the 
streets  proclaiming  the  Queen's  title  to  the  throne,  and, 
ill  doggerel  rhymes  declaring  that  she  shall  speedily  be 
seated  there,  and  reign  by  the  people's  free  election. 
There  is  every  probability  of  a  more  tremendous  explo- 
sion than  that  which  Lord  George  Gordon  brought 
about  in  our  childhood  ;  and  no  reliance  can  be  placed 
upon  the  soldiers.  For  they  are  not  only  duped  by  the 
devilish  newspapers  to  believe  that  the  Queen  is  an  in- 
nocent and  injured  woman,  but  they  are  infected  by 
the  moral  pestilence  of  the  age,  since  the  armies  in 
Spain  and  Naples  have  chose  to  interfere  in  state 
aflairs.  Before  this  letter  can  reach  you  the  crisis  will, 
in   all   likelihood,  have    come    on.      It   will  be   a  trial 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTUEr.  207 

between  the  Government,  su^iported  by  the  civil  power 
alone,  and  the  mob,  with  the  traitorous  Whigs  and  the 
Press  on  their  side, — the  troops  being  worse  than  doubt- 
ful. Of  course  care  is  taken  to  send  away  sucli  regi- 
ments as  have  given  the  plainest  indication  of  their 
determination  "  to  see  the  Queen  through  it,"  as  they 
express  themselves.  My  comfort  is  that  as  things  must 
be  worse  before  they  can  be  better,  the  sooner  the 
abscess  bursts  the  more  strength  there  will  be  in  the 
constitution  to  turn  off  and  struggle  through  the  disease. 
The  only  chance  of  getting  safely  through  the  affair  is, 
that  the  evidence  against  this  woman  may  convince  the 
honest  person  who  now  believes  her  to  be  innocent ; 
but  as  the  villanous  part  of  her  partizans  outnumber 
the  others  ten  times  told,  there  is  but  a  poor  hope. 

Being  blessed  with  good  spirits  and  cheerful  opinions, 
I  have  a  habit  of  looking  on  with  a  resolute  hope,  how- 
ever unfavourable  may  be  the  aspects.  One  of  my  oc- 
cupations at  this  time  is  a  series  of  dialogues,  upon  a 
plan  which  was  suggested  by  Boethius.  The  motto 
will  explain  their  object :  it  is  in  three  words,  which  I 
found  somewhere  quoted  from  St.  Bernard,  *' Respice, 
ASPICE,  PROSPiCE."  I  am  going  to  press,  quam  celer- 
rime,  with  the  "  History  of  the  Peninsular  War."  In 
poetry  I  have  done  little,  but  must  take  up  those  poems, 
which  have  been  so  long  in  hand,  in  good  earnest  ere 
long  and  go  through  with  them.  The  difficulty  of 
Spenser's  stanza  has,  I  think,  very  much  impeded  my 
progress  in  the  "  Tale  of  Paraguay,"  though  with  what 
is  done  I  am  very  much  pleased  myself. 

My  little  boy  is  now  a  year  and  half  old,  as  healthy, 
as  intelligent,  and  as  good-natured  as  one  could  wish. 

You  will  scarcely  know  London  when  you  return  to 
it;  that  is  if  we  have  any  such  city  left  a  few  years 
hence,  which  is  rather  doubtful,  as  one  of  our  Catalines 
have  more  than  once  intended  to  set  it  on  fire  in  sundrv 


208  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

places.  "VVliat  with  pulling  down  narrow  streets  and 
lanes,  and  building  wide  streets,  circles,  and  Heaven 
knows  what,  they  are  making  it  a  very  fine  place  ;  and 
when  the  inhabitants  are  brouglit  to  consume  their 
smoke  in  the  fire,  instead  of  letting  it  go  up  the  chim- 
ney, we  shall  have  as  clean  (though  not  as  clear)  an 
atmosphere  as  our  neighbours  on  the  Continent,  which 
was  the  case  before  pit  coal  came  into  use. 

Direct  the  books  to  tlie  care  of  Messrs.  Longman, 
Hurst,  Rees,  Orme,  and  Brown,  London,  and  they  will 
find  their  way  to  me.  The  duty  is  no  object  except 
for  voluminous  works  in  folio.      God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Kenyan,  Esq. 

Keswick,  August  19.  1820. 

My  dear  Kenyon, 

I  have  been  very  remiss  in  not  having  ere  this 
thanked  you  in  the  names  of  Edith  and  Sara,  and  the 
three  little  girls,  for  the  presents  with  which  you  have 
loaded  them.  I  owe  you  thanks  also,  on  my  own  ac- 
count, for  some  of  the  plcasantest  hours  which  I  spent 
in  London.  You  will  readily  suppose  that  I  have  been 
both  very  busy  and  very  idle  since  my  return  ;  busy  in 
the  regular  course  of  things,  and  idle  by  inclination, 
temptation,  and  course  of  season.  The  very  sense  of 
being  at  rest  after  eleven  weeks  of  perpetual  excitement 
and  continual  change  of  place  and  society,  was  in  itself 
a  pleasure  of  high  degree  ;  and  then  the  comfort  of 
breathing  fresh  air  without  either  dust  or  smoke,  of 
knowing  that  I  had  nowhere  to  go,  and  nothing  to  do 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  209 

except  what  I  chose  to  be  doing  ;  no  trouble  for  to- 
day and  no  engagement  for  to-morrow.  Christian,  in 
the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  when  the  burthen  drops  off 
his  back,  is  but  a  type  of  such  a  deliverance.  I  found 
all  well  on  my  return,  and,  God  be  thanked,  all  have 
continued  so. 

Cuthbert  runs  about  the  room  and  the  garden,  and 
the   greatest  noise   which   I   hear  now   is   of  my   own 
making,  when  I  am  exhibiting,  for  his  edification,  the 
cries  of  London,  in  a  book  bought  for  that  special  pur- 
pose, and  amusing  his   ears   as   much   as   his  eyes,  or 
turning  over  the  leaves  of  "  Bewick,"  and  making  more 
sounds  and  stranger  than   were   heard   in  Noah's   ark 
every  day  before  the  beasts  were   fed,  another  of  my 
domestic  beatitudes.     The  other  day  I  received  a  short 
note  from    Everett,   with   two   numbers    of  a    review, 
whereof  he  is   the   editor.     To  my  great  surprise  the 
review  is  violently  Anti- Anglican,  which  I  think  must 
proceed  more  from  his  coadjutors  than   himself.     He 
says,  "  I  shall  not  think  an  apology  for  this  necessary, 
when  I  call  to  mind  the  language  of  certain  English 
journals  respecting  America."     I  shall  tell  him,  in  re- 
ply, that  none  was  needed,  but   that,   certainly,   if   I 
had  the    direction   of  a  journal,  nothing  should  appear 
in  it  co7icerning  America  hut  tvhat  teas  conciliating  in  its 
spirit  and  tendency. 

God  bless  you. 

Robert  Southey. 


VOL.    111. 


210  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

To  Barnard  Barton,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Oct.  25.  1820. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  must  be  very  unreasonable  were  I  to  feel 
otherwise  than  gratified  and  obliged  by  a  dedication 
from  one  in  whose  poems  there  is  so  much  to  approve 
and  admire.  I  thank  you  for  this  mark  of  kindness, 
and  assure  you  that  it  is  taken  as  it  is  meant. 

It  has  accidentally  come  to  my  knowledge  that  a 
brother  of  yours  is  married  to  the  daughter  of  my  worthy 
and  respected  friend  Mr.  Woodruff  Smith.  When  you 
have  an  opportunity,  it  would  oblige  me  if  you  would 
recall  me  to  her  remembrance,  by  assuring  her  that  I 
have  not  forgotten  the  kindness  which  I  so  often  expe- 
rienced at  her  father's  house. 

Perhaps  you  may  consider  it  an  interesting  piece  of 
literary  news,   to  be   informed  that   among  my  various 
employments,  one  is   that  of  collecting  and  arranging 
materials   for   the  "Life  of  George  Fox,  and   the  Rise 
and  Progress  of  the  Quakers."     You  know  enough  of 
my  writings  to    understand   that   the   consideration   of 
whom  I  may  please  or  displease   would  not  make  me 
turn  aside  from  what  I  believed  to  be  the  right  line.     I 
shall  write  fairly   and  freely,  in  the  spirit  of  Christian 
charity.      My    personal    feelings    are    those   of   respect 
toward  the  Society  (such  as  it  has  been  since  its  first 
effervescence  was   spent),  and  of  good  will  because  of 
many  of  its  members  whom  I  have  known  and  esteemed. 
Its  history  I  shall  relate  with  scrupulous  fidelitj',  and 
discuss   its   tenets  with   no  unfavourable  or  unfriendly 
bias,  neither  dissembling  my  own  opinion  when  it  ac- 
cords, nor  when  it  differs  with  tliem.     And  perhaps  I 
may  expose   myself  to   more   censure   from    others  on 
account  of  the  agreement,  than  from  them  because  of 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  211 

the  difference.  But  neither  the  one  result  nor  the 
other  will  in  the  slightest  degree  influence  me ;  my  ob- 
ject being  to  compose  with  all  diligence  and  all  possible 
impartiality  an  important  portion,  not  of  ecclesiastical 
history  alone,  but  of  the  history  of  human  opinions. 

I  will  only  add  that  in  this  work  I  shall  have  the  op- 
portunity which  I  wish  for,  of  bearing  my  testimony  to 
the  merit  of  your  poems. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  Sir, 

Yours  truly, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Nov.  6.  1820. 

My  dear  G., 

Your  letters  have  troubled  me;  and  I  should 
have  replied  to  the  first  of  them  without  delay,  if  I  had 
not  expected  to  receive  the  half  notes,  which  I  now 
acknowledge  and  thank  you  for. 

If  it  were  at  a  better  season  of  the  year,  I  should 
press  you  to  make  for  yourself  as  long  a  vacation  as 
you  could,  and  set  off  forthwith  for  Keswick,  where  I 
would  answer  for  putting  you  in  good  condition.  But 
in  the  month  of  November,  when  the  paths  are  strewn 
with  the  fallen  leaves,  the  roads  ancle  deep  in  mire,  and 
the  glass  oscillating  between  rain  and  much  rain,  and 
only  getting  up  to  change,  for  the  sake  of  verifying  its 
accuracy  by  falling  back  again, — this  prescription  is  not 
applicable.  Make  up  your  mind  however,  and  your 
arrangements,  to  come  with  the  cuckoo,  or  before  him  ; 
and  you  will  derive  immediate  benefit  from  such  a  reso- 

p  2 


212  LETTERS    OF  1820. 

lution.     No  little  part  of  the  happiness  of  this  world 
consists  in  expectation. 

My  dear  Grosvenor,  I  am  no  ways  inclined  to  con- 
demn you,  as  you  seem  to  imagine  ;  nor,  like  the  shoe- 
maker whom  we  went  to  see  in  Richter's  picture,  to 
persuade  you  that  the  shoe  fits,  when  you  feel  that  it 
pinches.  Only  let  me  say,  that  I  should  be  as  glad  as 
you  could  be  to  find  myself  in  possession  of  a  good  in- 
dependent fortune :  and  that  we  poor  lacklands  and 
lackstocks  who  have  to  earn  our  livelihood,  must  en- 
deavour to  make  the  best  of  it.  You  are  better  off"  at 
this  time  than  the  King  or  his  Prime  Minister.  If  1 
were  in  town,  I  would  give  you  as  much  of  my  time  as 
you  would  accept :  that  is,  I  would  take  my  sneezes  at 
the  Exchequer  at  noon,  and  dine  with  you  and  Miss 
Page  and  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  as  often  as  you  would 
let  me  make  a  fourth  at  your  party.  But  as  this  cannot 
be,  let  us,  I  entreat  you,  converse  as  well  as  we  can, 
at  a  distance ;  and  do  not  imagine  yourself  unfit  for 
correspondence,  or  suffer  yourself  to  acquire  a  distaste 
for  it. 

I  have  often,  since  my  return  from  London,  been 
vexed,  as  well  as  disappointed,  at  not  hearing  from  you 
as  usual.  Your  letters  made  up  no  small  part  of  my 
enjoyments.  You  are  my  only  frequent  and  constant 
correspondent,  —  the  only  person,  with  whom  corre- 
spondence has  become  a  habit;  with  whom  I  can  be 
grave  or  nonsensical,  to  whom  I  can  say  quidlihet  de 
(juolibetf  and  make  my  lightest  thoughts  legible  as  they 
rise. 

I  have  many  things  to  tell  you  of  my  own  occupations, 
anticipations,  and  concerns,  when  you  are  willing  to 
hear  them.  At  present  it  will  suflice  to  say,  that  we 
are  all  tolerably  well,  and  especially  your  godson,  who 
calls  himself  Cupn,  and  puts  my  aunt  Mary  in  mind  of 
wliat  1  was  five-and-forty  years  ago.     Nash,  who  is  on 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  213 

his  way  to  town,  has  made  an  excellent  portrait  of  him  ; 
a  tolerable  miniature  of  my  poetship  ;  and  a  double 
miniature  of  Sara  and  Edith  which  you  will  be  much 
pleased  with. 

Farewell,  i.  e.  fare  better* 

Yours  as  ever. 

XV.  S. 


Messrs.  Longman  and  Co. 

Keswick,  Nov.  8.  1820. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  had  a  visit  from  Mrs.  Fry  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  George  Fox,  for  my  intention  has  made  a  stir 
among  the  Quakers.  The  first  wish  (I  think)  was  to 
dissuade  me  from  the  undertaking  ;  but  that  being  in 
vain,  every  offer  of  assistance  is  made.  I  thought  it 
proper  to  show  Mrs.  Fry  the  introduction  which  I  had 
written,  that  she  might  see  in  what  light  I  viewed  the 
subject,  and  that  I  should  neither  dissemble  the  errors 
of  the  Society  and  its  founder,  nor  detract  from  their 
just  merits.  And  having  made  it  clearly  understood 
that  I  shall  write  with  perfect  freedom,  as  well  as  per- 
fect sincerity,  I  shall  avail  myself  without  scruple  of  all 
the  advantages  and  facilities  which  are  offered  me. 

I  have  alreadv  got  a  number  of  useful  books,  among 


''J    o 


others  the  second  edition  of  G.  Fox's.  Journal,  by  which 
I  perceive  that  the  language  bas  been  altered  in  the 
third,  but  I  know  that  there  are  more  important  altera- 
tions from  the  first.  I  am  now  master  enough  of  the 
subject  to  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  work  as  well  as 

*  No  doubt  Southey  had  in  his  mind's  eye  the  characters  of 
''Do-weli;'  ''Do-bet"  and  "Do-best"  of  "Piers  Ploughman's 
Vision." 

P  3 


214  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

its  distribution,  and  have  no  doubt  of  its  making  two 
volumes,  though  they  may  be  somewhat  smaller  than 
"  Wesley."  Look  out  for  me  for  Gough's  "  History  of 
the  Quakers,"  (which  I  cannot  proceed  without),  the 
Lives  of  "  Thomas  Elwood,"  "  Richard  Davis,"  and 
"  Richard  Claridge,"  Rutty's  "  History  of  Friends  in 
Ireland,"  Margaret  Fox's  "  Journal,"  the  *'  Book  of 
Extracts,"  and  J.  W.  Chiting's  "  Catalogue  of  Friends' 
Books." 

The  first  chapter  must  be  a  retrospective  view  of  the 
history  of  religious  opinions  and  parties  in  England. 
Prepared  as  I  am  for  the  subject,  it  will  yet  cost  me  a 
good  deal  of  reading.  You  must  let  me  have  Neal's 
"  History  of  the  Puritans,"  the  original  work,  (not  the 
abridgement  in  two  volumes  which  was  published  a  few 
years  ago);  and  a  lately  pubHshed  volume  about  Non- 
conformity in  Wales,  containing  a  Life  of  Vavasor 
Powell. 

That    is   a   curious  volume   which   you   sent    me   of 
"  Tracts  against  the  Quakers." 

I  see  that  the  last  edition  of  "  Lardner  "  is  to  be  had 
for  61.  6s. ;  please  to  send  it  me  by  waggon. 

Yours  very  truly, 

R.   SOUTHEY. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Nov.  12.  1820, 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

Your  letter  served  as  a  cordial  to  counteract 
the  gloomy  thoughts  and  feelings  which  the  newspaper 
has  produced.  Come  here  early  in  May,  and  I  will 
put  you  in  good  condition,  body  and  mind.     We  will 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  215 

go  over  the  whole  of  the  Land  of  Lakes,  making  a 
complete  tour  of  them  ;  and  I  will  have  a  pair  of 
riding-breeches  made  for  the  nonce,  to  go  on  horseback 
with  you.  We  will  have  mountain  parties,  and  such 
tarn  scenes  as  Nash  will  show  you  in  his  drawing. 
Make  your  arrangements  accordingly,  and  for  me,  I 
will  live  upon  the  exercise  in  anticipation  till  you  make 
your  appearance. 

It  is  well  that  one  has  something  to  exhilai'ate  one 
in  private  life  ;  for  otherwise  there  is  very  little  either 
at  home  or  abroad  which  can  be  regarded  with  hope  or 
with  complacency.  I  am  heartily  ashamed  of  the 
English  people,  who  have  retained  nothing  of  the  old 
English  character,  except  physical  courage,  and  extreme 
credulity.  Physical  courage,  I  say,  because  there  is 
very  little  of  the  moral  virtue  left.  We  are,  at  this 
time,  under  the  tyranny  of  the  Press ;  and  the  men 
who  have  the  direction  of  public  opinion,  and  thereby 
of  public  affairs,  are  precisely  the  greatest  rascals  in  the 
country,  the  most  profligate,  and  worst-principled  ad- 
venturers of  the  age.  Things  cannot  continue  thus, 
and  whatever  course  they  may  take,  if  you  and  I  should 
reach  the  age  of  three-score  years  and  ten,  we  shall,  in 
all  human  probability,  have  outlived  the  English  con- 
stitution, and  the  liberties  of  England.  The  question 
is  not  whether  we  shall  escape  from  despotism,  but 
whether  the  process  by  which  it  is  to  be  brought  on 
will  be  longer  or  shorter,  more  or  less  calamitous  and 
frightful.  Li  the  present  condition'  of  the  world,  I  am 
perfectly  certain  that  no  government  can  withstand  the 
influence  of  a  free  press  ;  the  freedom  of  (he  press  is 
incompatible  with  public  security ;  and  yet  we  know 
that  the  inevitable  tendency  of  despotism  is  to  degrade 
mankind,  and  that  without  the  wholesome  influence  of 
the  press,  governments  tend  to  despotism.  But  of 
what   use    is  it   to   anticipate   evils,   against   which   no 

p  4 


216  LETTERS   OF  1820. 

exertions   can  avail,    till    we   have   a  resolute  govern- 
ment ! 

Gifford  has  now  the  whole  article  upon  "  Hunting- 
ton "  in  his  hands.  I  rely  upon  its  insertion  in  the 
next  number,  for  paying  my  Christmas  bills.  For  the 
number  after  he  may  have  a  paper  upon  some  Brazilian 
travels,  which  will  serve  to  introduce  remarks  upon  the 
state  of  that  country,  and  its  internal  danger;  and  if 
he  assures  me  that  a  paper  which  Bowles  sent  him  upon 
that  subject  is  not  to  be  used,  I  will  set  about  the 
"  Life  of  Oliver  Cromwell."  I  should  rather  that 
Bowles's  were  inserted,  but  think  it  not  likely.  Bowles 
has  been  ill  used  in  the  "  Quarterly  Review,"  and  is 
now  at  war  with  it,  having  the  right  on  his  side. 

Sad  changes  have  taken  place  am.ong  our  cats  since 

you  were  here.     1  believe  you  remember  Lord  Nelson. 

He  became  so  wretched  that  it  was  an  act  of  mercy  to 

put  him  in  the  river,  and  that  service  was  rendered  him 

by  poor  Mrs.  Wilson.      Bona  Fidelia  reached   a   good 

old  age,  and  was  found  dead  in  the  wood-house.     There 

then    remained    Madame     Bianchi,    who    was     Bona's 

daughter,  and  Pulcheria,  who  was  Madame's  daughter. 

These  poor  creatures,  who  lived  with  Mrs.  Wilson,  and 

had    possession  of  the  chairs  and  the  fire-side  in  her 

kitchen,    forsook   the   house  the    day  that  she  had  her 

mortal  seizure.     They  became  almost  wild.     At  length, 

however,  we  got  them  to  come  into  the  house  for  food  ; 

and  I  had  persuaded  them  to  come  to  my  call  before  I 

left  home  in  the   spring.      When    1  returned   Madame 

had   disappeared  (and  has  never  been  seen  since),  and 

Pulcheria    was    in    a    miserable    state,  dying  of  some 

disease  which  was  then  prevalent  among  the  cats,  and 

very  fatal   to   them.      It  was   pitiable    to   see   her;  and 

yet,  in  the  hope  of  her  recovery,  I  could   not  order  an 

end  to  be  put  to  her  lingering.     But  I  was  glad  when 

she  was    found   dead.     A   visitor    from    the    town,   by 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  217 

name  Virgil,  who  haunted  these  premises,  being  pos- 
sibly driven  from  his  own,  died  here  also.  And  thus 
the  old  generation  to  which  Bona  Marietta,  Sir  Thomas 
Dido,  and  Madame  Catalini,  had  belonged,  was  extinct. 
We  have  now  only  a  young  Othello,  from  Newlands : 
he  has  the  defect  of  being  of  a  miserably  small  breed, 
otherwise  a  worthy  and  promising  cat,  who  has  never 
looked  into  a  boot,  and  is  safe  from  all  such  operators  as 
the  editor  of  the  "  Quarterly  Review."  Sir,  I  shall  be 
very  happy  to  introduce  you  to  Othello.  It  is  a  good 
name,  not  merely  as  expressing  his  complexion,  but 
because  he  will  undoubtedly  be  as  jealous  as  beseems 
his  Tomship.  I  trust  he  will  be  the  founder  of  a  new 
dynasty,  and  that  in  a  few  generations  black  will  be 
the  prevailing  livery  of  the  cats  in  Keswick. 

Have  you  seen  anything  of  Strachey  ?     Kemember 
me  to  him  when  you  do.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  IVynn,  Esq, 

Keswick,  Nov.  13.  1820. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Cornelius  Neale  dedicated  a  tragedy  called 
"Mustapha"  to  me,  some  five  or  six  years  ago.  I 
afterwards  breakfasted  with  him  at  the  house  of  Josiah 
Conder,  proprietor,  editor,  and,  at  that  time,  pub- 
lisher of  the  "  Eclectic  Review."  Neal's  father  kept 
the  great  china  shop  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  by  the 
gateway  leading  to  Doctors'  Commons,  and  he  himself 
has  married  a  daughter  of  John  Mason  Good.  He  is 
a  little,  mild,  religious  man,  with  a  great  deal  of  poetical 
feeling  which  he   knows  how  to  express  ;   not,  I  think 


218  LETTERS    OF  1820. 

with  much  power  of  mind,  but  free  from  all  prevailing 
faults,  either  of  manner  or  morals,  in  his  writings. 

Murray  lias  sent  me  the  "  Sketch  Book,"  the  author 
of  which  I  met  in  his  room.  It  is  a  very  pleasing 
clever  book.  What  the  writer  says  concerning  the 
Indians  is  more  creditable  to  his  humanity  than  to  his 
judgement.  It  is  quite  an  ex  parte  view  of  the 
case.  Philip  of  Pokanoket,  with  whom  I  shall  make 
you  better  acquainted  than  Irving  seems  to  be,  had 
all  the  treachery  of  a  true  savage,  as  well  as  some  of  a 
savage's  virtues.  His  Indian  name  was  Massasoit  (not 
Kawnacom)  ;  and  the  historical  grounds  of  my  poem 
are,  as  Irving  supposes,  to  be  found  in  the  main  events 
of  what  is  called  Philip's  war. 

I  know  not  what  to  think  of  this  termination  of  the 
Queen's  business,  except  that  it  is  plain  enough  the 
reign  of  terror  has  begun  ;  and  where  it  is  to  end,  God 
knows  !  The  Queen's  lawyers,  as  well  as  her  radical 
friends,  have  stuck  at  no  means  to  serve  her  ;  and 
they  have  succeeded  in  deceiving  some  of  the  lords, 
and  in  intimidating  others,  which,  with  the  help  of  the 
thorough-faced  Opps,  and  a  few  rickety  consciences, 
has  enabled  them  to  obtain  a  most  disgraceful  triumph  ; 
disgraceful  as  affecting  the  character  of  the  nation. 
Never  let  us  wonder  again  at  the  madness  in  the  days 
of  Titus  Gates,  or  of  Dr.  Sacheverel.  The  essential 
spirit  of  faction*  is  the  same  in  Wldg  as  in  Tory,  and 
in  all  times.  If  Bergami  was  to  come  to  England,  I 
should  not  wonder  if  they  were  to  present  him  with 
the  freedom  of  the  city,  in  a  gold  box.  By  the  by, 
one  of  the  Italian  worthies  at  the  Lord  Mayor's  enter- 
tainment has  a  reputation  which  would  have  entitled 
him  to  stand  for  the  office  of  Lord  Horse  in   that  re- 

*  Horace  Walpole  said,  "  I  have  a  maxim,  that  the  extinction 
of  party  is,  the  origin  of  faction."  See  Letters,  vol.  ii.  p.  213., 
"  Southey's  Common  Place  Book,"  3rd  series,  p.  529. 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  219 

markable  city*  of  which  no  vestige  now  remains,  and 
no  record  will  be  transmitted  to  posterity. 

The  matter  will  not  end  here,  even  if  the  Queen 
should  be  desirous,  as  probably  she  will  be,  of  taking 
her  allowance,  and  returning  to  her  continental  in- 
dulgences. The  example  of  bearding  the  sovereign 
and  defying  the  laws  has  been  set,  and  the  possibility 
of  intimidating  the  legislature  has  been  proved.  The 
question  of  the  Liturgy  will  be  taken  up ;  the  ferment 
will  continue,  and  things  will  go  on  from  bad  to  worse, 
till  the  press  has  effected  a  thorough  revolution,  or  till 
Government  has  subdued  the  press.  I  fear  that  in 
another  century  our  constitution  will  be  held  up  as  a 
warning  for  its  defects,  not  as  an  object  of  admiration 
for  other  nations.  And  I  am  as  sure  as  it  is  possible 
to  feel  concerning  future  events,  that  in  the  course  of 
fifty  years  (perhaps  in  less  than  half  that  time),  there 
will  not  be  a  free  press  in  Europe. 

King  Mob  demands  an  illumination  here  to-night,  ac- 
cording to  the  talloio-chandlers,  and  great  disturbances 
are  threatened.  In  that  case,  my  windows  may  suffer. 
There  is,  however,  no  appearance  of  any  stir  as  yet 
(between  seven  and  eight  o'clock),  and  tallow-chandlers 
are  suspicious  authorities  in  such  matters. 

There  is  a  book  advertised  about  New  Britain, 
which,  from  the  advertisement,  I  suppose  to  be  an 
Utopian  romance  founded  upon  the  story  of  "  Madoc." 
Do  you  know  anything  of  it? 

I  have  nearly  finished  another  book  of  "  Oliver  New- 
man," and  shall  take  it  up  now  in  the  hope  of  getting 
over  one  of  those  difficult  passages  in  which  I  stick  for 
a  long  time  ;  passages  in  which  a  reader  discovers  no 
difficulty,  but  a  writer  feels  the  greatest. 

I  wish  you  could  have  given  me  a  better  account  of 
Mrs.  Wynn.     We  are  going  on  tolerably  well.     Your 

*  An  allusion  to  the  long-projected  "  Butleriana." 


220  LETTERS    OF  1820. 

godson  is  as  fine  a  creature  as  you  could  desire  to  see, 
and  begins  to  mispronounce  mutilated  words  most 
delightfully.  Charles  Cuthbert  he  makes  into  Cha- 
Cupn. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  C.  W,  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  31.  P. 

Keswick,  Nov.  28.  1820. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Mrs.  Hughes  has  sent  me  some  squibs  of  her 
son's  writing,  some  of  which  are  very  good  in  their  kind ; 
and  written  me  a  letter  therewith,  to  which,  as  in  duty 
bound,  I  have  returned  an  answer.  She  is  very  indig- 
nant about  the  Queen. 

Bedford  tells  me  I  must  not  be  surprised  if  farther 
measures  should,  be  taken  in  this  detestable  business ; 
and  at  something  of  this  kind  the  '•  Courier"  seems  to 
hint.  On  the  other  hand,  I  hear  that  Lord  Grey  is 
heartily  vexed  at  having  given  ministers  an  excuse  for 
not  sending  the  bill  to  the  H.  of  Commons,  where  it 
would  certainly  have  been  thrown  out  on  the  first  read- 
ing. For,  reckoning  upon  a  like  proportion  of  Whigs 
and  cowards  in  both  houses,  you  would  have  the  radical 
members  to  aid  them,  and  the  greater  numbers  of  mem- 
bers for  large  towns,  who,  as  they  must  either  vote 
with  the  riot  or  lose  their  seats  at  the  next  election, 
would  have  found  some  specious  excuse  for  obeying  the 
will  of  the  rabble :  ministers,  therefore,  no  doubt  would 
gladly  let  the  matter  rest ;  but  this  will  not  be  in  their 
power.  The  Queen  is  in  the  hands  of  a  gang  (rather 
than  a  party)  who  will  go  any  lengths  to  bring  about  a 


1820.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  221 

revolution,  and  she  is  ready  enough  to  go  all  lengths 
with  them.  So  much  the  better  if  this  accelerate  the 
crisis,  for  the  longer  that  crisis  is  delayed,  the  more 
perilous  it  will  be. 

I  give  you  joy,  however,  and  a  two  months'  respite. 
Your  evenings  will  be  more  agreeably  spent  in  Wales 
than  in  Pandemonium.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Dec.  21.  1820. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

Poor  Hyde  !  I  am  truly  sorry  to  hear  of  his 
death.  My  introduction  to  him  by  yon,  in  1801,  and 
the  scene  which  followed,  when  he  denied  the  existence 
of  the  coat  on  my  back,  being  one  of  those  things  not 
to  be  forgotten,  but  now  no  longer  to  be  remembered 
with  the  same  kind  of  hilarity.  By  all  means  pay  my 
bill  to  the  widow;  and,  if  the  business  is  continued  on 
her  account,  she  shall  have  my  custom, — a  kind  of  debt 
this  which  one  owes  to  an  honest  man. 

Now,  concerning  the  Vision.  You  may  growl  as  much 
as  you  like.  But  before  you  begin  to  put  on  your  cri- 
tical cap,  observe  with  respect  to  the  metre,  that  I  write 
upon  the  postulate  of  using  in  the  four  first  feet  of  the 
verse,  any  foot  of  two  or  three  syllables ;  the  English 
liexameter  in  this  respect  bearing  the  same  loose  re- 
semblance to  the  Latin,  that  the  English  heroic  verse 
of  ten  syllables  does  to  the  ancient  Iambic  verse,  after 
which  it  is  sometimes  called.  This  of  course  is  to  be 
explained  in  tlie  preface.     I  have  tried  the  verse  upon 


222  LETTERS    OF  1820. 

ears  enough  to  judge  of  its  effect.  Those  persons  who 
were  most  inchned  to  disapprove  were  shaken  in  their 
decided  prejudice  against  it.  Wynn,  instead  of  ex- 
claiming against  the  possibility  of  the  design,  objected 
to  the  quantity  of  one  or  two  syllables.  Bowles  pro- 
tested against  the  attempt,  and  acknowledged  its  success 
when  he  heard  the  first  thirty  lines.  Wordsworth  and 
Barry  Cornwall  admit  it  to  be  a  legitimate  English 
metre,  noways  unsuited  to  the  language.  You  can 
answer  for  its  effect  upon  your  own  ears.  No  person 
has  thought  it  forced,  or  uncouth,  or  ludicrous.  Recollect 
I  do  not  propose  it  as  a  better  metre  than  blank  verse, 
any  more  tlian  I  should  offer  venison  as  a  better  thing 
than  turtle,  but  as  something  else,  —  there  being  room 
for  both.  Let  it  be  abused,  I  care  not.  I  have  wished 
for  more  than  twenty  years  *  to  make  the  experiment, 
and  the  experiment  reconciled  me  to  a  subject  which  I 
should  otherwise  not  willingly  have  taken  up. 

To  whom  shall  I  dedicate  it  ?  Not  to  Elmsley,  I 
think,  for  the  reason  which  you  gave,  and  which  I  an- 
ticipated. The  great  Peter,  I  hope,  will  pay  me  a  visit 
next  summer  ;  and  one  of  these  days  I  will  prefix  his 
name  to  something  to  which  he  will  have  no  dislike. 
When  you  have  perused  the  whole,  you  will  judge 
whether  there  be  anything  in  the  matter  which  would 
make  a  dedication  to  the  King  improper.  If  there  be 
not  I  should  like  to  do  it,  because  my  blood  is  up,  and 
it  would  gratify  me  at  this  time  to  wear  the  King's 
colours.  Perpend  this,  if  it  is  to  be  done.  I  suppose 
it  would  be  decorous  to  ask  permission;  and  that  1  can 
do  through  Lord  Wm.  Gordon,  or  Sir  Wm.  Knighton. 

*  Southey  always  used  to  say  that,  "  one  day  or  another  some  one 
would  build  up  a  great  name  on  the  use  of  the  hexameter  verse." 
I  will  not  say  that  Longfellow  has  done  this  in  his  "  Evangeline," 
but  it  is  nevertheless  a  sweet  poem. 


1820.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  223 

Siiould  there  be  any  unfitness,  as  perhaps   there  is,  I 
may  very  likely  address  it  to  Wordsworth. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Mrs.  Hughes. 

Keswick,  Dec.  21.  1820. 

My  dear  Madam, 

I  thank  you  for  your  letter  and  for  the  squibs. 
Mr.  Hughes  has  plenty  of  gunpowder  and  makes  good 
use  of  it.  He  will  make  himself  felt  as  a  Satirist,  and 
satire,  under  the  direction  of  such  principles  as  his, 
mav  do  good  service  in  these  times  ;  otherwise  there 
are  pleasanter  paths  in  literature,  which,  for  his  own 
sake,  I  should  wish  him  to  pursue.  Indignation*  will 
make  good  poetry,  but  it  leaves  the  mind  in  a  heated 
and  uncomfortable  state  ;  and  poetry  is  of  most  ad- 
vantage, both  to  the  writer  and  reader  (and  especially 
to  the  former)  when  it  elevates  us  above  the  every-day 
concerns  and  unworthy  humours  of  the  world.  I  shall 
be  very  glad  to  see  the  productions  of  a  different  class 
which  you  promise  me.  Meantime,  as  you  have  left 
Amen  Corner,  let  me  know  where  I  can  direct  to  him 
a  poem,  as  soon  as  it  comes  out  of  the  press,  which  I 
have  just  sent  to  the  printers. 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  I  was  pleased  with  the 
good,  honest,  warm,  "Welsh  loyalty  of  your  letter.  Our 
Protestant  missionaries  have  proved,  in  opposition  to 
their  Romish  predecessors,  that  the  best  helpmates  they 

*  Southey  alludes  to  the  lines  of  Juvenal  (Sat.  i.  v.  79.)  — 

"  SI  Natura  negat,  facit  Indignatio  versum, 
Qualemcunque  potest,  quales  ego,  vel  Cluvienus." 


224  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

can  take  with  them  are  their  wives ;  and  you  have  per- 
suaded me  in  like  manner  that  a  woman  may  be  of  as 
much  use  in  putting  down  evil  opinions  and  diffusing 
good  ones,  as  a  justice  of  the  peace.  It  is  for  want  of 
zeal  that  we  pei'ish. 

As  yet  I  have  heard  nothing  of  the  society  which  you 
mention.  I  perceive  some  objections  to  it,  of  which 
the  weightiest  is  its  tending  to  relieve  Government  of 
a  responsibility  and  duty,  from  which  it  is  too  much 
disposed  to  shrink.  Objections, however,  must  be  waived, 
if  there  be  a  reasonable  prospect  of  doing  good.  If  we 
do  not  curb  the  press,  the  press  will  destroy  us  ;  and 
this  is  a  truism  of  which  I  have  been  endeavouring  to 
persuade  the  Government  for  the  last  ten  years. 

Mrs.  S.  desires  her  best  regards.  Present  mine  to 
Dr.  Hughes,  and  my  young  brother  poet,  and  believe 
me, 

My  dear  Madam,  yours  obediently, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  Jan.  8.  1821. 

The  death  of  poor  Nash  *  has  given  me,  and  indeed 
my  whole  household,  a  severe  shock,  for  he  had  been 
with  us  so  much  that  he  seemed  almost  like  one  of  the 
family.  It  is  little  more  than  five  years  since  I  became 
acquainted  with  him,  and  we  had  spent  more  than 
twelve  months  of  that  time  together,  at  home  and 
abroad.  And  the  more  we  knew  of  him,  the  better  we 
loved    him ;    he  was    so    sensible   of  any  kindness,    so 

*  "  Edward  Nash,  my  dear  kind-hearted  friend  and  fellow- 
traveller,  whose  death  has  darkened  some  of  the  blithest  and 
flithest  recollections  of  mj  latter  life." — Progress  and  Prospects 
of  Society,  vol.  i.  p.  2.38. 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  225 

thoroughly  amiable,  and  bore  his  cross  so  meekly. 
With  regard  to  himself,  his  removal  to  a  better  state  is 
not  to  be  regretted;  but  notwithstanding  this  considera- 
tion, I  fear  it  will  be  some  time  before  my  spirits  re- 
cover from  the  shock  they  have  sustained.  At  my  time 
of  life  new  friendships  are  rarely  formed,  and  the  man 
of  middle  age  who  is  richest  in  friends,  can  ill  afford  to 
lose  one  of  them. 

Had  it  not  been  for  this  event,  I  should  have  given 
you  a  cheerful  account  of  our  going-on.  The  weather 
has  been  much  less  severe  here  than  in  the  south.  I 
went  on  Tuesday  to  bring  Edith  May  home  from 
Wordsworth's,  and  returned  on  Thursday ;  and  nothing 
could  be  pleasanter  than  the  weather,  it  quite  recon- 
ciled one  to  an  English  January. 

Bedford  takes  his  rides  on  Sunday,  because  his  shop 
is  shut  on  that  day,  and  he  comes  at  an  unlawful  hour 
to  suit  his  ovvn  dinner  time.  If  you  had  seen  him,  he 
would  have  told  you  that  the  hexameters  are  finished, 
and  have  passed  through  his  hands  on  their  way  to  the 
press.  I  am  now  busy  upon  the  preface,  in  wliich  I 
have  taken  occasion  incidentally  to  repay  some  of  my 
obligations  to  Lord  Byron  by  a  few  comments  on  "Don 
Juan."  The  odes  which  I  wrote  ex  officio  in  December 
1819  and  December  1820,  will  be  added,  partly  for  the 
sake  of  adding  twenty  pages  to  a  thin  book,  and  still 
more  because  they  will  be  well-timed,  and  are  in  their 
way,  me  jiidice,  the  one  very  respectable,  the  other  of  a 
higher  order.     I  entitle  them  the  "  Warning  Voice." 

I  received  the  four  first  proofs  of  the  "Peninsular 
War "  on  Christmas-day,  and  the  printer  has  in  his 
hands  copy  enough  for  a  dozen  more. 

There  is  nothing  of  mine  in  the  "  Quarterly  Review," 
GifFord  having  prorogued  my  account  of  the  "  Sinner 
Saved "  till  the  next  number.  The  number  has  not 
reached  me  yet. 

VOL.  III.  Q 


226  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

Landor  received  from  me  the  information  of  Sir  C. 
Wolseley's  reference  to  him,  and  sent  me  his  answer 
that  I  might  transmit  it  to  the  ''  Courier."  Tliis  I  did 
not  think  proper  to  do,  because,  if  I  could  have  seen 
Landor,  or  written  to  him  in  time,  he  would  have 
altered  the  temper  of  his  letter.  Parr,  no  doubt,  sent 
it  to  the  "  Times."  But  it  is  worth  knowing,  because 
it  is  a  specimen  of  radical  veracity,  that  in  his  conver- 
sation concerning  their  neighbour,  the  Princess  at  Como, 
Wolseley  never  attempted  to  deny  the  notorious  fact  of 
her  whoredom,  but  used  to  justify  it !  I  know  Robert 
"Wolseley,  his  brother,  who  at  different  times  spent 
about  eighteen  months  here.  He  was  a  very  good  man, 
of  melancholy  temperament,  who,  having  been  bred  to 
the  law,  and  afterwards  in  the  militia,  at  the  age  of 
three  or  four-and-forty,  had  a  fancy  for  studying 
Hebrew,  took  orders,  and  preached  himself  into  a  con- 
sumption. The  family  principles  were  Oliverian  modi- 
fied in  Robert  into  Whiggery. 

Aunt  Mary  bears  the  winter  well.  Old  age  never 
wore  a  happier  appearance  in  woman  than  it  does  in 
her ;  and  everybody  who  sees  her  remarks  this.  It  is 
delightful  to  see  the  enjoyment  she  has  in  amusing 
Cuthbert,  and  letting  him  do  with  her  whatever  he 
pleases.  That  drawing  which  you  have  seen  is  as  ex- 
cellent a  likeness  as  ever  was  taken.  Thank  God,  he 
continues  to  thrive,  and  is  as  happy  and  as  good- 
humoured  as  he  can  be. 

The  difference  of  grammars  at  Westminster  is  not 
so  great  a  disadvantage  as  you  seem  to  apprehend.  My 
love  to  the  boys,  not  forgetting  Alfred  and  the  two 
younger  ones.  Dr.  Bell  was  here  last  month,  wearing 
wonderfully  well. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S, 

P.  S.  Longman  would  send  the  reprint  of  the  "  Car- 


1821.  EGBERT   SOUTHEY.  227 

mina "  to  the  Doctor  for  you  ;  tlie  postscript  to  the 
notes  is  an  excerpt  from  my  half-finished  letter  to 
Brougham. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wtjnn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Jan.  II.  1821. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  enclose  a  letter  for  Elmsley.  I  have  some  ob- 
jections, which  appear  to  me  of  considerable  weight, 
against  the  Constitutional  Association.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  reversing  the  order  of  things  —  Government 
is  endangered  by  a  devilish  press,  and  instead  of  fairly 
attacking  an  evil  which  it  must  control,  or  be  destroyed 
by  it,  it  wishes  to  keep  aloof,  and  leave  individuals  to 
associate  for  its  defence  ;  that  is,  we  are  to  protect 
Government  instead  of  being  protected  by  it. 

Secondly,  political  associations  in  turbulent  times 
are  very  dangerous  things.  Clubs  may  be  met  by 
clubs,  anti-Jacobine  by  Jacobine — till  we  come  to  club 
law. 

Were  it  the  system  of  the  country,  I  should  not  ob- 
ject to  a  police  as  severe  as  that  of  Alfred,  which  would 
leave  no  man  loose  upon  society  ;  but  I  do  not  like  to 
embody  myself  as  a  political  Familiar,  God  knows, 
from  no  fear  of  popular  odium,  nor  with  any  wish  to 
shrink  from  responsibility  or  notice,  if  that  were  pos- 
sible. That  I  have  shown,  and  by  God's  blessing  will 
show ;  but  I  do  not  like  this  mode  of  acting,  because 
Government  can  and  ought  to  do  all  that  is  meant  to 
be  done  by  this  association. 

Tell  me   what  you  think  of   this  subject.       I  have 

q2 


228  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

had  ca  severe  shock  in  the  death  of  my  poor  little 
friend  Nash,  who  left  us  only  in  November,  having 
passed  four  months  with  us.  Of  the  last  five  years  we 
had  been  companions,  at  home  and  abroad,  more  than 
one ;  and  a  more  thoroughly  amiable  man  I  never 
knew.  How  many  pleasant  recollections  are  turned  to 
**  eysel  and  gall"  *  by  the  loss  of  an  intimate  friend! 

God  bless  you. 

Iv.  S. 


To  Dr.  H.  H.  Southey. 

Keswick,  Jan.  15.  1821. 

My  dear  Harry, 

I  have  been  very  much  shocked  at  hearing  of 
poor  Nash's  death,  the  news  of  which  was  communicated 
to  me  by  his  brother-in-law,  who  tells  me  that  you  were 
called  in  to  him,  but  too  late.  I  had  spent  more  than 
one  year  out  of  the  last  five  in  company  with  him,  at 
home  or  abroad  ;  and  here  he  had  become  so  domesti- 
cated that  the  children  almost  regarded  him  as  one  of 
the  family.     His  death,  therefore,  has  cast  a  deep  shade 

*  "  Christe  by  crueltie 

Was  nayled  upon  a  tree  : 
He  paid  a  bitter  pencion 
For  man's  redemption  : 
He  dranke  eisel  ^  and  gall, 
To  redeme  us  withal." 

Skelton's  Colyn  Clout. 


'  Eisile  is,  as  is  well  known,  the  Anglo-Saxon  word  for  vinegar. 
So  in  German  Essig,  in  Danish,  Eddike. 


1S21. 


ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  229 


over  what  were  the  sunniest  recollections  of  my  latter 
years.  Poor  fellow  !  he  bore  his  cross  so  meekly  that 
it  was  impossible  to  know  him  well  without  becoming 
greatly  attached  to  him;  and  the  more  he  was  known, 
the  more  highly  he  was  valued. 

I  must  write  ere  long  to  his  brother-in-law  about  the 
portraits  which  he,  poor  fellow !  took  to  London  with 
him  to  have  them  framed.  You  will  be  able  to  identify 
them  ;  they  were  Cuthbert,  my  aunt  Mary,  Tom,  and 
one  of  those  of  Edith  May,  of  which  there  were  three, 
little  differing  from  each  other.  There  are  nine,  and  I 
shall  ask  to  have  the  others  which  he  made  of  this 
family  for  himself,  —  as  things  of  no  interest  to  others, 
but  valuable  here.  There  is,  moreover,  my  hack  por- 
trait, designed  as  the  frontispiece  to  Dr.  Dove,  an  in- 
tention which  must  be  given  up  now  that  the  drawing 
passes  through  other  hands.  I  should  very  much  like 
also  to  have  his  little  pocket  book,  full  of  sketches 
which  he  made  in  his  walks  here. 

The  "Archaica"  and  "Heliconia"  (six  quarto  vo- 
lumes) went  up  in  his  trunk,  when  he  wanted  ballast ; 
he  was  to  send  them  to  Longman's  to  bind  for  me,  and 
we  cut  off  the  covers,  which  lessened  their  bulk  about  a 
fourth.  I  must  inquire  if  they  had  been  delivered  to 
Longman,  and  if  not,  must  trouble  you  to  recover  them 
for  me. 

Had  it  not  been  for  this  heavy  loss,  the  new  year 
would  have  been  opened  cheerfully  with  me  in  many 
respects,  finding  me  well  employed  and  in  good  heart 
and  hope.  On  Christmas-day  I  received  the  first 
proofs  of  the  "  History  of  the  War,"  and  I  am  daily 
expecting  the  first  proof  of  the  hexameters,  which 
make  a  poem  of  substantive  length  (above  600  lines) 
divided  into  several  sections.  I  shall  not  get  much  by 
them  except  abuse, — which  falls  upon  me  with  as  little 
annoyance  as  hailstones  upon  an  umbrella.      But  they 

Q  3 


230  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

will  be  talked  of,  and  there  will  be  parties  for  and 
against  the  metre  ;  but  the  practicability  of  the  metre 
is  proved,  and  the  credit  of  the  attempt  will  be  worth 
having  hereafter.  I  shall  probably  append  to  it,  for  the 
sake  of  adding  three  sheets  to  a  thin  book,  my  odes  of 
the  two  last  years,  under  the  title  of  the  "  Warning 
Voice  ; "  the  first  is  very  respectable,  the  second,  ni 
fallor,  of  a  high  order. 

Westall  has  made  six  admirable  dravi^ings  to  be  en- 
graved for  my  "  Colloquies."  He  is  to  choose  his  own 
engraver;  and  if  the  engraver  does  them  justice,  they  will 
be  some  of  the  most  beautiful  embellishments  that  were 
ever  appended  to  a  book  of  octavo  size.  Murray  has  sent 
them  to  me  to  look  at.  The  view  of  this  house,  with 
Newlands  in  the  distance,  will  delight  you,  and  so  will 
the  three  others  which  you  will  recognise.  I  am  pro- 
ceeding with  those  "Colloquies,"  and  with  the  "  Book 
of  the  Church  ; "  so  that  you  see  I  shall  take  the  field 
this  season  in  great  force.  "  Oliver  Newman  "  also  is 
progressive ;  1  am  now  in  the  sixth  book,  and  as  the 
mornings  lengthen,  shall  get  a  spell  at  it  before  breakfast. 

Tell  Senhouse  that  I  have  received  his  "  Dugdale  " 
from  Netterhall.  I  am  very  glad  he  is  returning  to 
this  country.     Elmsley  talks  of  visiting  me  in  July. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Hickman,  ^c. 

Jan.  20.  1821. 
My  dear  R., 

I  have  devised  an  hieroglyphic  for  a  great  Whig 

landholder, — it  is  an  elephant  with  a  Dodo's  head  ;  that 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHET.  231 

combination,  1  conceive,  expressing  the  proportion  be- 
tween their  power  and  their  intellect. 

My  hexameters  look  well  in  print,  and  read  well.  I 
am  finishing  the  preface,  and  in  three  weeks  you  will 
receive  the  book. 

"Pandemonium"*  will  have  opened  when  this  reaches 
you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Richnan.  Esq.,  §^c. 

Keswick,  Jan.  27.  1821. 

My  dear  R., 

I  trouble  you  with  my  last  enclosure  for  the 
printer.  In  the  course  of  a  fortnight  you  will  receive 
the  book.  The  hexameters  have  nothing  uncouth  in 
their  appearance,  the  type  being  adapted  to  their  longi- 
tude rather  than  to  the  size  of  the  page ;  and  for  their 
effect  upon  the  ear,  it  must  be  a  stubborn  prejudice  that 
maintains  its  ground  against  them.  But  a  good  pelting 
shower  of  abuse  I  shall  have  sans  doubt,  having  with 
some  ingenuity  contrived  to  give  matter,  or  pretext,  of 
offence  to  all  parties,  like  a  very  Ishmaelite.  For  I 
have  neither  placed  Pitt  nor  Fox  among  the  worthies 
of  the  late  reign  ;  and  you  may  easily  guess  how  that 

*  Lord  Clarendon  says,  In  writing  under  the  head  of  1641, — 
"  The  short  recess  of  parliament,  though  it  was  not  much  above 
the  space  of  a  month,  was  yet  a  great  refreshment  to  those  who 
had  sat  near  a  full  year,  mornings  and  afternoons,  with  little  or 
no  intermission ;  and  in  that  warm  region,  where  thunder  and  light- 
ning icere  made.''' — History  of  the  Rebellion,  book  iv.  vol.  ii.  p.  14. 
8vo.  1826. 

Q  4 


232  LETTERS   OF 


1821. 


sin  of  omission  will  be  resented.  Then  in  the  preface 
I  have  a  passage,  by  no  means  weakly  wordedj  which  my 
worthy  friends  Lord  Byron  and  Moore  will  take  to 
theniselves,  as  a  set-off'  in  part,  against  some  obligations 
due  to  them.  And  I  have  written  a  dedication  to  the 
King,  with  some  doubt  whether  it  may  be  proper  to 
print  it,  in  point  of  form,  because  it  touches  upon  the 
state  of  the  press ;  and  if  this  should  be  thought  to 
look  as  if  I  were  appointing  myself  one  of  the  King's 
counsellors,  I  have  given  a  discretionary  power  of  throw- 
ing it  behind  the  fire ;  but  if  there  be  no  informality  in 
it,  it  will  set  the  Whig  and  Jacobite  swarm  in  motion. 
These  villains  cannot  hate  me  more  than  they  do,  and 
I  will  lose  no  opportunity  of  making  them  feel  me. 
They  shall  find  me  by  far  the  most  formidable  of  their 
antagonists.  There  is  a  page  about  the  Opps  (in  the 
*'  Peninsular  War  "),  now  lying  in  the  proof  before  me, 
which  you  would  enjoy. 

Mrs.  R.  shall  have  more  journals  shortly,  and  a 
quicker  supply  of  it.  My  daughter  Edith  is  at  this 
time  transcribing  something  else  for  you  ;  I  think  it 
will  amuse  you  ;  but  you  will  see  that  it  is  not  intended 
to  be  shown  to  an  Irishman,  and  that  it  comes  prudently 
in  a  handwriting  which  no  person  can  recognise. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq 

Keswick,  Feb.  2.  1821. 
My  dear  Grosvenor, 

You  have   by   this   time   learnt  how    readily   I 
acquiesced    in    the    decision    which    you    and    Herries 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  233 

passed  upon  the  dedication.  You  will  not  regard  the 
trouble  of  the  discussion ;  neither  do  I  regret  the 
time  employed  in  composing  it :  the  spirit  moved  me, 
and  I  satisfied  myself  by  writing  according  to  my  feel- 
ings. There  ended  all  my  interest  in  the  affair,  for  I 
have  lived  long  enough  to  know  how  little  such  things 
are  thought  of  by  any  but  the  writers  themselves,  and 
to  apply  that  knowledge  to  things  of  more  pith  and 
moment  than  a  dedication.  How  differently  did  I  feel 
on  that  Saturday  when  the  first  number  of  the  *'  Flagel- 
lant "  was  published !  Though  there  ivas  not  a  line  of 
my  oiun  in  it,  still  I  felt  that  I  had  taken  the  field,  and 
my  own  *'  Alphonso  "  was  not  filled  with  higher  hopes 
and  aspirations  when  first  he  put  on  the  armour  which 
his  father  had  worn  in  Wamba's  wars.  I  have  a  most 
vivid  recollection  of  that  day.  The  MS.  of  the  "Vision" 
was  sent  me  with  the  proofs.  You  mentioned  an  in- 
tention of  preserving  it,  and  thei'efore  I  have  not 
thrown  the  dirty  and  befingered  leaves  into  the  fire, 
as  otherwise  I  should  have  done.  I  have  introduced 
Hogarth  and  Wesley.  Mr.  Wilson's  letter  in  reply  to 
mine  having  led  me  vehemently  to  suspect  that  the 
document  which  impeached  his  character  was  an  in- 
vention of  his  wife's,  I  restored  the  lines  which  had 
been  struck  out  jyendente  lite.  The  type  is  necessarily 
small,  but  there  is  nothing  uncouth  in  the  appearance 
of  the  page,  nor  of  the  lines — they  look  as  well  as  blank 
verse.  I  am  looking  daily  for  the  notes  and  the  preface, 
with  the  intent  of  referring  in  the  former  to  Westall's 
views  for  the  line  of  mountains,  and  the  evening  effect 
described  in  the  opening  of  the  poem. 

Concerning  poor  dear  Nash's  effects  I  know  as  little 
as  you  do.  Nothing  has  been  said  to  me  about  the 
drawings,  which  his  family  must  know  to  be  mine,  and 
therefore  I  must  write  about  them.  He  told  me  once 
that  he  either  had  left   or  intended   to  leave  me   two 


234  LETTERS    OF  1821. 

splendid  drawings,  by  Westall,  of  the  Cave  of  Eleplmnta, 
in  India  ;  but  I  do  not  know  whether  he  had  made  a 
will.  I  have  some  reason  to  suspect  that  those  who  are 
to  share  his  property  will  not  regret  him  so  deeply  and 
so  long  as  I  shall  do.      God  bless  you. 

R.  S, 


Messrs.  Longman  Sf  Co. 


Feb.  7.  1821. 


Dear  Sir, 

I  get  no  proof  of  the  notes  and  preface  to  the 
"Vision,"  and  it  is  time  to  ask  what  is  become  of 
them. 

There  is  an  entertaining  account  of  my  "  Wesley  "  in 
the  last  "  Evangelical  Magazine,"  in  all  respects  worthy 
of  that  enlightened  journal.  They  set  me  down  for  a 
book-maker,  treat  me  with  great  contempt  for  my 
ignorance  of  theology  and  ecclesiastical  history,  and 
hint,  at  the  close,  that  what  I  must  expect  for  such  a 
book  is  —  damnation. 

Yours  very  truly, 

R.    SoUTHEY. 


Messrs.  Longman  Sf  Co. 

Keswick,  March  7.  1821. 

Dear  Sir, 

Among  the    numerous    applications  which    are 
made  to  me  for  assistance,  possible  or  impossible,  upon 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  235 

all  kinds  of  subjects,  one  has  just  arrived  on  behalf  of 
a  poor  compositor,  who  believes  that  a  recommendation 
from  you  to  any  of  your  printers  may  obtain  him  em- 
ployment, and  thereby  save  his  family  from  beggary 
and  ruin.  His  story  is  simply  this :  that,  having  been 
employed  twenty  years  in  one  office,  he  has  been  dis- 
charged in  consequence  of  the  introduction  of  the 
stereotype  ;  and  because  he  is  not  known  in  any  other 
office,  he  cannot  get  employment. 

How  far  any  patronage  of  this  kind  is  in  your  power, 
I  of  course  am  ignorant ;  but  I  cannot  do  otherwise 
than  thus  state  the  matter  to  you.  If  you  can  thus  assist 
one  who  is  represented  to  me  as  a  worthy  man,  I  dare 
say  you  will,  and  in  that  case  I  will  beg  you  to  com- 
municate your  kind  intention  by  a  line  to  either  of  the 
two  Westalls,  who  are  both  very  much  interested  about 
him.     His  name  is  Christie.      Believe  me, 

Yours  very  truly, 

Robert  Soutiiey. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Kill. 

Keswick,  March  14,  1821. 

I  blame  myself  for  not  having  written  to  King 
as  soon  as  I  knew  you  were  gone  to  Bristol.  It  did 
not  occur  to  me  till  I  received  your  letter  ;  and 
indeed  I  was  not  sure  that  you  had  not  returned,  hear- 
ing nothing  of  you  either  from  Harry  or  Rickman. 
If  poor  Danvers  had  been  living,  he  would  have  been, 
as  he  always  was,  useful  in  time  of  need,  always  ready 
to  perform  any  act  of  service  and  of  kindness.  If 
King  had  received  my  letter  in  regular  time,  he  might 


236  LETTERS    OF  1821. 

have  relieved  you  of  some  trouble  during  the  last  week 
of  your  stay.  A  very  mournful  time  you  must  have 
passed.     I  assure  you  it  was  often  in  my  thoughts. 

If  there  be  one  spot  upon  this  earth  that  I  remember 
with  more  feeling  than  any  other,  it  is  Ashton,  such  as 
it  was  forty  years  ago,  when  those  village  lanes  of  which 
you  speak  were  in  their  beauty.  The  first  time  I  ever 
rode  on  horseback  was  when  you  carried  me  thither, 
before  you,  from  Bedminster. 

Edward  wrote  me  a  very  good  letter,  which  pleased 
me  very  much.  Tell  him  that  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear 
from  him  again,  whenever  he  is  disposed  to  write. 

The  "  Vision  "  arrived  here  yesterday.  There  is  a 
provoking  error  in  the  first  page,  where  the  printer  has 
contrived  to  drop  the  final  a  in  Glaramara.  And  in 
the  extract  from  Landor's  "Essay,"  the  word  ac  has 
crept  in,  nonsensically.  Landor  has  sent  you  a  copy  of 
his  volume,  which  has  found  its  way  to  me,  and  must 
wait  for  an  opportunity  of  conveyance. 

The  dedication  was  a  good  one  ;  but  I  took  an  official 
opinion  concerning  its  etiquette,  and,  in  conformity  to 
that  opinion,  struck  out  the  part  which,  in  the  form  of 
compliment,  conveyed  a  well-timed  warning.  The 
metre  will  probably  attract  some  notice,  and  possibly 
occasion  some  discussion ^ro  and  con:  the  subject  will 
provoke  some  abuse,  to  which  I  am  perfectly  indifferent. 
I  do  not  expect  that  more  than  500  copies  will  sell,  but 
I  am  glad  the  experiment  has  been  made.  It  was  my 
intention  to  have  printed  two  odes  with  it ;  but  finding 
that  there  was  no  want  of  eking,  and  knowing  that 
short  lines  in  a  quarto  page  would  have  looked  ridiculous 
if  printed  in  the  same  type  as  the  hexameters,  I  laid 
them  aside. 

*'  Lope  de  Aguirres  Adventures  "  are  gone  to  the 
printer,  with  considerable  additions,  such  as  were 
necessary  to  make  the  story  complete  when  it  appeared 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  237 

as  a  separate  publication.  It  will  form  one  volume, 
like  the  *'  Life  of  Nelson,"  in  the  small  size.  Murray's 
printer  proceeds  very  slowly  with  the  "  History."  I 
have  corrected  only  thirteen  sheets. 

The  "  Correio  Braziliense  "  is  now  become  an  inte- 
resting work.  My  only  hope  for  Portugal  was  that  Uca- 
legon's  house  might  be  burnt  to  the  ground  before  the 
flames  extended  there.  Ferdinand,  I  think,  can  hardly 
escape  death,  and  Spain  will  be  from  one  sea  to  another 
the  seat  of  a  Spanish  civil  war,  which  will  be  plus  quam 
civile  with  a  vengeance.  What  will  become  of  Portugal 
I  cannot  conjecture  ;  but  it  appears  very  likely  that  the 
poor  king,  between  his  two  stools,  will  come  to  the 
ground.  To-day's  paper  brings  news  of  the  explosion 
at  Para.  The  sure  effect  of  revolution  in  Brazil  will 
be  to  divide  that  country  among  as  many  Artigases  and 
Aguirres  as  have  ability  to  keep  a  regiment  of  ruffians 
together.  I  do  not  see  what  can  save  the  intei'ior  from 
this ;  and  the  great  maritime  cities  will  probably  run 
the  same  course  as  Buenos  Ayres.  The  end  of  these 
things  I  shall  not  live  to  see  ;  but  I  have  a  good  deal 
to  say  upon  the  prospects  of  society,  which  I  shall  bring 
forward  in  my  "  Colloquies." 

Did  I  tell  you  that  two  translations  of  "  Roderick  " 
have  been  published  at  Paris,  and  a  third  is  talked  of. 
One  of  them  has  been  sent  me.  If  I  wished  to  show 
any  young  poet  what  images  and  expressions  in  the 
poem  had  any  peculiar  propriety,  it  might  be  done  by 
telling  him  to  mark  everything  which  the  translator  had 
either  generalised  or  skipt.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


238  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

To  a  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  March  23.  1821. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Your  confession  that  you  dislike  the  "Vision 
of  Judgment "  less  than  you  expected,  is  more  grati- 
fying to  me  than  half  the  compliments  that  I  shall  re- 
ceive ;  for  you  know  I  anticipated  from  the  beginning 
your  hearty  disapproval.  A  great  many  of  the  persons 
who  usually  write  to  me  on  such  occasions  are  just 
now  waiting  to  see  which  way  the  wind  of  public 
opinion  will  set  in  ;  but,  among  the  poets,  I  may  call 
for  a  division,  and  count  a  majority. 

I  am  very  much  amused  at  your  account  of  Murray 
and  the  literaliste,  and  at  their  concern  for  my  devoted 
head.  Lord  Byron  had  deserved  more  than  this  at  my 
hands  ;  but  what  I  have  written  proceeded  from  a 
sense  of  duty,  not  from  any  personal  resentment :  if 
any  personal  feeling  existed  it  was  a  latent  apprehension 
that  some  undeserved  censure  might  attach  to  me  for 
the  scandalous  silence  of  the  "  Quarterly  Review " 
concerning  "  Don  Juan."  As  for  Murray's  anticipated 
contest,  I  liave  no  itch  for  controversy,  and  will  never 
be  drawn  into  one  ;  only,  if  Lord  Byron  provoke  it,  I 
will  read  him  a  lecture  somewhat  more  at  length,  and 
such  a  one  as  will  last  quite  as  long  as  his  lordship's 

works. 

My  hope  for  Europe  was  that  the  Spanish  revolution 
would  have  reached  its  stage  of  blood  soon  enough  to 
deter  all  other  nations  from  entering  upon  the  same 
course.  My  fears  are  now  like  yours,  and  perhaps 
more  for  Germany  (especially  the  Prussian  States) 
than  for  France  and  Brabant  ;  for  if  Germany  were 
sound,  the  spirit  might  once  more  be  abated  by  force 
of  arms.     Great   part  of  the  evil  lias  proceeded  from 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  239 

the  English  newspapers,  from  the  language  held  in 
Parliament,  and  from  the  foreign  journals  printed  in 
England  —  to  these  latter  the  movements  in  Portugal 
and  Brazil  may  directly  be  ascribed.  If  the  Portu- 
guese ambassadors  had  done  their  duty,  they  should 
long  ago  have  called  upon  this  Government  to  send  the 
editors  of  those  journals  out  of  the  country,  by  the 
Alien  Act,  or  at  least  have  prosecuted  them. 

The  Austrians  say  of  themselves  —  "  Nous  sero7is  les 
derniers,''  looking  upon  the  event  as  inevitable.  Shall 
we  escape  ?  I  should  say,  certainly  not^  if  I  looked 
merely  at  human  causes,  for  here  the  tendency  of 
everything  is  to  the  utter  overthrow  of  our  institutions 
—  forgive  me  if  I  include  the  Catholic  question  among 
the  co-operating  causes  of  destruction.  But  I  have  a 
trust  in  Providence,  and  in  that  trust  a  cheering  and 
steady  hope,  which,  if  it  rested  upon  any  other  found- 
ation, would  be  utterly  unreasonable. 

My  feelings  upon  this  subject  were  expressed  in  the 
last  "  New  Year's  Ode,"  which  Bedford  may  perhaps 
have  shown  you.  If  you  have  not  seen  it,  I  will  send 
it  you,  as  it  may  be  long  before  it  gets  to  the  press  ; 
and  though  I  have  no  talent  for  lyrical  composition,  it 
was  written  rapidly  and  earnestly. 

I  think  you  need  not  be  alarmed  at  Watkin's  ten- 
dency to  croup.  There  is  a  spurious  form  of  the 
disease  which  frequently  recurs,  and  which  is  more 
alarming  than  dangerous.      I  know  this  by  experience. 

I  am  reading,  for  the  second  time,  Michaelis's  "  Com- 
mentaries on  the  Laws  of  Moses,"  in  an  English  trans- 
lation —  certainly  one  of  the  most  able  and  important 
books  that  I  have  ever  perused.  He  wishes  the  intro- 
duction of  slavery  as  a  punishment.  This  is  very  unlike 
his  usual  sagacity, /or  he  seems  to  forget  the  effect  which 
slavery  produces  upon  the  master.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


240  LETTERS    OF  1821. 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Aprils.  1821, 

My  dear  G., 

The  King  has  desired  Sir  William  Knighton  to 
let  me  know  that  "  he  has  read  the  '  Vision  of  Judg- 
ment' twice,  and  that  he  is  much  gratified  by  the  dedi- 
cation, and  pleased  with  the  poem."  Could  you  get  a 
copy  sent  with  the  despatches  to  our  minister  at  Flo- 
rence for  Landor,  who  is  at  Pisa?  I  know  not  in  what 
other  manner  to  transmit  it  to  him,  and  this  is  one  of 
the  uses  of  an  ambassador.  I  once  received  at  one  time 
three  folios  through  the  Spanish  ambassador  from  Cadiz. 
Landor  has  only  seen  the  first  paragraph,  which  I  sent 
him  in  a  letter,  and  it  has  made  him  a  convert  to  the 
metre.  This  is  no  slight  conquest,  for  except  Wynn  I  had 
looked  upon  him  as  the  person  among  all  my  friends 
least  likely  to  be  reconciled  to  it.  But  the  verdict  of 
my  peers  is  most  decidedly  in  its  favour. 

Now  to  a  more  important  subject.  You  were  duly 
apprised  towards  the  end  of  the  year  of  Othello's  death. 
Since  that  lamented  event  this  house  was  cat-less,  till 
on  Saturday,  March  2'4.,  Mrs.  Calvert,  knowing  how 
grievously  we  were  annoyed  by  rats,  offered  me  what 
she  described  as  a  fine  full-grown  black  cat,  who  was 
moreover  a  tom.  She  gave  him  an  excellent  character 
in  all  points  but  one,  which  was  that  he  was  a  most  ex- 
pert pigeon-catcher  ;  and  as  they  had  a  pigeon  house, 
this  propensity  rendered  it  necessary  to  pass  sentence 
upon  him  either  of  transportation  or  of  death.  Moved 
by  compassion  (his  colour  and  his  tomship  also  being 
taken  into  consideration),  I  consented  to  give  him  an 
asylum,  and  on  the  evening  of  that  day  here  he  came  in 
a  sack. 

You,  Grosvenor,  who  are  a  philogalist,  and  therefore 


1S21.  ROBEKT    SOUTHEY.  241 

understand  more  of  cat  nature  than  has  been  ever  at- 
tained by  the  most  profound  naturalists,  know  how  diffi- 
cult it  is  to  reconcile  a  cat  to  a  new  domicile.  When 
the  sack  was  opened,  the  kitchen  door,  which  leads  into 
the  passage,  was  open  also,  and  the  cat  disappeared  ; 
not  indeed  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  but  as  fast  as  one, — 
that  is  to  say,  for  all  purposes  of  a  simile.  There  was 
no  chance  of  his  making  his  way  back  to  the  pigeon- 
house.  He  might  have  done  this  had  he  been  carried 
t.hiice  the  distance  in  any  otlier  direction;  but  in  this 
there  was  either  a  river  to  cross,  or  a  part  of  the  town 
to  pass,  both  of  which  were  such  obstacles  to  his  travels 
that  we  were  quite  sure  all  on  this  side  of  them  was  lo 
him  terra  Incognita.  Food,  therefore,  was  placed  where 
he  would  be  likely  to  find  it  in  the  night;  and  at  the 
unanimous  desire  of  the  children,  I  took  upon  myself 
the  charge  of  providing  him  with  a  name,  for  it  is  not 
proper  that  a  cat  should  remain  without  one.  Taking 
into  consideration  his  complexion,  as  well  as  his  sex, 
my  first  thought  was  to  call  him  Henrique  Diaz,  a  name 
which  poor  Koster  would  have  approved,  had  he  been 
living  to  have  heard  it;  but  it  presently  occurred  to  me 
that  the  Zombi  *  would  be  an  appellation  equally  ap- 
propriate and  more  dignified.  The  Zombi,  therefore, 
he  was  named. 

It  was  soon  ascertained  that  the  Zombi  had  taken 
possession  of  poor  Wilsey's  cellar,  which  being  filled 
with  pea-sticks  afforded  him  a  secure  hiding-place ;  the 
kitchen  also  of  that  part  of  t!ie  house  being  forsaken,  he 
was  in  perfect  quiet.  Food  was  laid  for  him  every  day, 
and  the  children  waited  impatiently  for  tlie  time  when 
the  Zombi  would  become  acquainted  with  the  house, 
and  suffer  them  to  become  acquainted  with  him.     Once 

*  The  title  of  the  Chief  of  the  Palmares  negroes.  See  History 
of  Brazils,  vol.  iii.  p.  24. 

VOL.   III.  11 


242  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

or  twice  in  the  evening  he  was  seen  out  of  doors,  and 
it  was  known  that  he  reconnoitred  the  premises  in  the 
nisfht :  hut  in  ohstinate  retirement  he  continued  from 
Saturday  till  Saturday,  seven  days  and  nights,  notwith- 
standing all  kind  words  were  used  to  bring  him  out,  as 
if  he  had  been  determined  to  live  and  die  a  hermit. 

But  between  four  and  five  o'clock  on  the  Sunday 
morning,  all  who  had  ears  to  hear  were  awakened  by 
such  screams  as  if  the  Zombi  had  been  caught  in  a  rat- 
trap,  or  had  met  with  some  other  excruciating  accident. 
You,  Mr.  Bedford,  understand  cats,  and  know  very  well 
that  a  cat-solu  is  a  very  different  thing  from  a  duet ;  and 
that  no  person  versed  in  their  tongue  can  mistake  their 
expression  of  pain  for  anything  else.  The  creature 
seemed  to  be  in  agonies.  A  light  was  procured,  that  it 
might  be  relieved  if  that  were  possible.  Upon  searching 
the  house,  the  Zombi  was  seen  at  the  top  of  Wilsey's 
stairs,  from  whence  he  disappeared,  retreating  to  his 
stronghold  in  the  cellar;  nor  could  any  traces  be  dis- 
covered of  any  hurt  that  could  have  befallen  him,  nor 
has  it  since  appeared  that  he  had  received  any,  so  that 
the  cause  of  this  nocturnal  disturbance  remains  an  im- 
penetrable mystery. 

Various  have  been  our  attempts  to  explain  it.  Some 
of  the  women  who  measure  the  power  of  rats  by  their 
own  fears,  would  have  it  that  he  was  bitten  by  a  rat,  or 
by  an  association  of  rats ;  but  to  this  I  indignantly  re- 
plied that  in  that  case  the  ground  would  have  been 
strewn  with  their  bodies,  and  that  it  would  have  been 
the  rats'  cry,  not  the  Zombi's,  that  would  have  been 
heard.  Dismissing,  therefore,  that  impossible  supposi- 
tion, I  submit  to  your  consideration,  in  the  form  of 
queries,  the  various  possibilities  which  have  occurred  to 
me,  —  all  unsatisfactory,  I  confess,  —  requesting  you  to 
assist  me  in  my  endeavour  to  find  out  the  mystery  of 
this  wonderful  history,  as  it  may  truly  be  called.     You 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  243 

will  be  pleased  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Zombi  was  the 
only  cat  concerned  in  the  transaction  :  of  that  I  am  per- 
fectly certain. 

Now  then,  Grosvenor, — 

1.  Had  he  seen  the  devil  ? 

2.  Was  he  making  love  to  himself? 

3.  Was  he  engaged  in  single  combat  with  himself? 

4.  Was  he  attempting  to  raise  the  devil  by  invoca- 
tion? 

5.  Had  he  heard  me  sing,  and  was  he  attempting 
(vainly)  to  imitate  it  ? 

These  queries,  you  will  perceive,  all  proceed  upon  the 
supposition  that  it  was  the  Zombi  who  made  the  noise. 
But  I  have  further  to  ask, — 

6.  Was  it  the  devil? 

7.  Was  it  Jeffery  ?  * 

8.  Were  either  of  these  personages  tormenting  the 
Zombi? 

I  have  only  to  add  that  from  that  time  to  this  he 
continues  in  the  same  obstinate  retirement,  and  to  assure 
you  that 

I  remain, 

Mr.  Bedford, 

With  the  highest  consideration, 
Yours  as  ever, 

Robert  Southey. 

P.  S.  One  further  query  occurs  while  I  am  writing. 
Sunday  having  been  the  first  of  the  month — 

9.  Was  he  making  April  fools  of  us  ? 

R.  S.f 

*  The  explanation  of  this  term  is  to  be  sought  in  the  "  Life  of 
Wesley,"  where  he  is  described  as  "  not  a  malicious  goblin,  but 
one  easily  offended."  See  vol.  i.  p.  23.,  and  notes,  pp.  432 — 465, 
2nd  edit. 

f  "  I  admire  your  solution  of  Zombi's  Notturno.  Alas  !  he  has 
gone  beyond  space  once  more,  and  has  never  returned.     He  is 

R   2 


244  LETTEHS    OF  1821. 

To  a  W.  W.  Wyniiy  Esq.,  M.P. 

April  4.  1821. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  did  not  omit  Henry  V.  from  any  remains  of 
prejudice,  but  because  I  wished  not  to  lengthen  a 
muster  roll  which  was  likely  to  be  too  long,  and  is  in- 
deed disproportionate  to  the  other  parts  of  the  poem. 
Yet  certainly  I  cannot  agree  with  you  in  thinking  that 
Coeur  de  Lion  might  be  displaced  to  make  room  for 
him,  for  Richard  must  ever  be  one  of  the  heroes  of 
romance.  Madame  de  Stael  told  me  she  meant  to 
make  him  the  hero  of  a  prose  epic.  His  taste  for 
Saracens'  heads  was  something  like  that  for  Irish  bacon 
which  prevailed  in  Wales  about  the  same  time,  and  be- 
longed rather  to  the  age  than  to  the  individual.  But 
Richard's,  you  know,  was  only  a  display  to  frighten  the 
Saracens,  whereas  the  bacon  was,  no  doubt,  for  use. 
Barbarous  customs  kept  their  ground  longer  in  this 
island  than  historians  seem  to  have  observed.  Did  I 
tell  you  that  in  Galloway  something  like  the  Poly- 
andrian  system  of  the  ancient  Britons  appears  to  have 
prevailed  as  late  as  the  twelfth  century ;  so  at  least  I 
interpret  a  passage  in  the  Acta  Sanctorum. 

vanished,  without  a  hope  of  his  re-appearance,  or  a  vestige  of  him 
remaining.  We  are  promised  to  succeed  hira  a  Black  Tomling, 
whom  I  have  named  Frester  John  —  that  hierarch  being  the  most 
remarkable  black  potentate  whom  I  could  call  to  mind.  Long 
live  Prester  John  !  and  may  he  be  more  fortunate  than  his  prede- 
cessors, Othello  and  Pulcheria."  —  MS.  Letter  from  M.  S.  to  G.  C. 
B.,  April  29.  1821. 

"  We  expect  Prester  John  shortly.  The  Zombi  has  completely 
disappeared.  We  have  a  visitor  whom  I  have  named  William 
Rufus  (of  Lord  Nelson's  blood  I  doubt  not)  ;  and  there  is  a  finer 
one  of  the  same  complexion  in  the  town,  upon  whom  I  have  con- 
ferred the  name  of  Danuyr  le  Roux, — but  you  must  read  the  old 
romance  of  Gyron  le  Courtoys  to  know  how  great  a  hero  Red 
Danayr  vr&s."  —  Ibid.  11th  May,  1821. 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEy.  245 

You  speak  of  Davy  in  one  of  your  letters.  When 
you  saw  him  at  Bristol,  1  was  in  habits  of  the  greatest 
intimacy  with  him.  That  intimacy  has  fallen  off,  less 
from  remoteness  of  place  and  dissimilarity  of  pursuits, 
than  because  of  the  effect  which  high  life  and  prosperity 
liave  produced  upon  him  ;  an  effect  which  has  been  such, 
that  for  many  years  I  have  felt  more  pain  in  his  com- 
pany, from  remembering  what  he  was,  than  any  pleasure 
to  be  derived  from  his  conversation  would  compensate. 
A  great  man  most  unquestionabl}^  he  is  in  one  line,  but 
in  that  line  he  would  be  even  greater  than  he  is,  if  the 
world  had  less  hold  upon  him.  It  has  made  him  vain, 
selfish,  and  sensual ;  and  weaned  him  from  all  his  old 
friends. 

Old  friends  are  the  best  of  all  possessions,  and  there 
is  nothing  in  this  world  which  can  supply  their  loss. 

The  King  sends  me  word  that  he  has  read  the  "  Vision 
of  Judgment  "  twice,  is  much  gratified  with  the  dedica- 
tion, and  pleased  with  the  poem.  The  dedication  was  a 
good  one  as  it  originally  stood,  for  I  had  touched  upon 
the  state  of  the  press  in  a  way  which  pleased  myself 
both  as  to  the  matter  and  the  form.  This  was  not 
struck  out  from  any  fear  of  the  obloquy  which  it  would 
provoke,  but  because  I  thought  it  might  seem  out  of  its 
place,  and  as  it  were  intruded  where  I  had  no  business 
to  introduce  it.  Concerning  the  metre,  I  have  the  full 
and  entire  concurrence  of  the  poets  whom  I  know,  and 
of  the  female  readers.  Nor  indeed  have  I  heard  as  yet 
of  any  repugnance  to  it,  except  from  .you,  whom,  as  you 
know,  I  expected  to  ride  upon  an  insurmountable  ob- 
stacle !  * 

I  am  now  taking  up  the  "  Tale  of  Paraguay,"  with 
the  determination  of  going  through  with  it,  for  the  most 
ursent  of  all  reasons.    And  I  shall  have  to  send  you  ere 

*  An  old  Westminster  aUusion,  explained  in  Vol.  II.  p.  322. 

R    .3 


246  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

long  that  "  History  of  Lope  de  Agierre,"  which  was  in- 
serted in  the  "  Annual  Register,"  reprinted  in  a  little 
volume,  making  the  tliirty-fourth  of  my  operas  in  that 
size. 

Is  the  second  volume  of  the  "  Scriptores  Rerum 
Hibernicarum  "  published  ?  Whenever  it  is,  I  will,  if  I 
possibly  can,  review  it,  in  the  hope  of  bringing  it  into 
notice,  or  at  least  of  giving  to  the  editor  that  commen- 
dation to  which  he  is  so  fully  entitled. 

God  bless  you. 

Yours  affectionately, 

XV.  S. 


To  a  W.  W.  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.  P. 

April  6.  1821. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

The  enclosed  refuses  an  invitation  to  dine  on  the 
third  of  May  with  the  Literary  Fund  Society,  for  the 
good  reason  that  I  intend  to  dine  in  Cumberland  on  that 
day ;  and  a  refusal  to  write  verses  for  the  said  dinner, 
for  the  equally  good  reason  that  I  am  too  busy,  and 
have  no  talent  for  occasional  poetry. 

Another  reason  not  less  decisive  might  have  been 
added,  if  I  had  not  borne  in  mind  that  the  least  which 
is  said  is  the  soonest  mended  !  a  maxim  which  I  impress 
upon  my  children  when  they  hurt  themselves  in  infancy, 
as  a  charm  to  stop  their  crying.  That  reason  is,  that  if 
I  wrote  satire,  there  are  few  subjects  on  which  I  should 
lay  on  the  lash  with  so  much  severity  as  this  worshipful 
society,  which,  while  it  lauds  itself  as  a  joint-stock  com- 
pany of  patronage,  does  in  fact  nothing  more  than  re- 
lieve literary  pauperism  by  donations  of  five  and  of  ten 
pounds,  which  just  serve  to  purchase  a  reprieve  from  the 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  247 

sponging-house  or  the  parish,  and  to  prolong  the  pro- 
cess of  starving. 

I  could  say  much  upon  this  subject,  and  upon  the  sort 
of  society  which  would  really  be  beneficial  to  literature 
and  to  the  community.  Whatever  Dr.  Johnson  may 
have  said,  the  booksellers  are  not  the  best  patrons  of 
literature.  They  must  consider  solely  what  is  likely  to 
sell,  not  what  deserves  to  be  printed.  The  scheme  for 
an  academy  which  has  been  published,  is  ridiculous ;  but 
academies  are  not  in  themselves  bad  things.  In  other 
countries  they  have  done  a  great  deal,  and  there  is  a 
great  deal  to  be  done  in  this,  which  will  never  be  done 
without  one. 

How  much  depends  upon  Austria  at  this  moment ! 
A  liberal  policy  might  do  wonders  now,  but  the  race  of 
statesmen  is  extinct.  With  evil  on  all  sides,  one  has 
nothing  to  hope  for  except  tranquillity,  and  that  sort 
of  melioration  arising  from  the  spirit  of  the  age,  which 
was  going  on  every  day  till  the  French  Revolution 
brought  on  an  age  of  blood. 

God  bless  you. 

R/.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  April  30.  1821. 

I  HAVE  a  letter  by  this  day's  post  from  Knox,  con- 
cerning Edward,  for  whose  interest  he  seems  to  feel  as 
warmly  as  I  could  wish  him.  He  is  of  opinion  that  it 
will  be  better  not  for  him  to  stand  out  for  Collesre  next 
year,  because  it  will  require  cramming  (an  operation 
which  whether  it  be  always  beneficial  he  doubts  ;  I, 
for  my  part,  not  doubting  that  it  is  always  injurious), 


11   4 


248  LETTERS    OF 


1821. 


and  because  of  liis  youth  and  gentleness  of  disposition. 
His  utmost  efforts  next  year  could  not  be  expected 
to  bring  liim  in  except  among  the  four  last;  and 
then,  to  use  Knox's  words,  "  a  gentle,  delicate  boy 
would  be  subjected  to  the  severest  part  of  a  severe 
discipline."  The  year  after  he  would  probably  come  in 
very  high.  Knox  must  be  the  best  judge  of  all  this. 
With  regard  to  the  discipline  of  which  he  speaks,  it  is 
one  of  those  evils  which  cry  aloud  for  extirpation ;  and 
against  which  I  should  have  cried  aloud  ere  this,  if  it 
were  not  for  the  temper  of  the  times,  when  so  many 
persons  would  join  in  the  cry  for  the  purpose  of  mis- 
chief. But  the  economy  of  our  public  schools  stands 
grievously  in  need  of  reform.  Goodenough  had  an  op- 
portunity last  year  of  breaking  the  tyranny  which  is 
exercised  in  College,  when  a  fla^rrant  instance  came 
before  him  in  the  case  of  James  Moore's  case.  But  I 
believe  that,  like  most  men  who  are  connected  with  old 
establishments,  lie  wishes  to  maintain  things  as  they 
are ;  and  the  worse  they  are,  the  more  does  he  feel  it  a 
point  of  honour  to  maintain  them. 

One  of  the  errors  in  our  old  school  education  is 
exemplified  in  Edward's  own  case,  for  he  is  nearly  two 
years  more  forward  than  he  would  have  been  in  the 
regular  course  of  the  school ;  boys  usually  entering  the 
fourth  form  from  the  age  of  thirteen  to  fourteen.  If 
njy  dear  Herbert  had  lived  to  reach  that  age,  he  would 
have  been  advanced  enough  for  the  sixth  form,  and 
have  acquired  as  many  modern  languages  as  I  could 
have  taught  him,  or  learnt  in  teaching  him.  Yet  his 
lessons  never  employed  more  than  three  hours  in  the 
day,  and  when  he  was  with  me  they  were  as  much 
spurt  as  study ;  so  easily  are  these  things  acquired  by 
a  willing  and  apt  mind  when  it  is  led  in  the  right 
way. 

I   should    have    been   very   anxious   to   hear   of    the 


1S21.  ROBERT    SOUTHEV.  249 

cliilclrcn,  if  the  Doctor  had   not  written.     Love  to  my 
aunt.  God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  C.  W.  fV.  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.  P. 

Keswick,  May  8.  1821. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

During  the  last  year  or  year  and  a  half  that  1 
was  at  Westminster,  one  imposition  served  me :  after 
it  was  given  up  and  laid  on  the  table,  it  was  regularly 
abstracted,  either  by  myself  or  the  "Ava^  avhpcov*,  for 
whom  I  performed  the  like  service.  And  so  it  lasted, 
till  the  appearance  of  the  quartan  migiit  have  betrayed 
its  history  to  an  observant  eye.  Something  like  this  I 
have  now  good  hope  of  effecting  with  my  "  Official 
Odes."  It  was  notified  to  Shield  that  one  would  be 
required  this  year ;  and  one  having  been  made  ready 
(which  to  him  is  really  a  serious  labour,  the  mere 
transcribing  the  music  being  a  week's  work  for  an  indus- 
trious copyist),  he  is  plainly  mortified.  But  it  has  not 
been  called  for.  I,  on  the  other  hand,  am  exceedingly 
well  pleased,  meaning  not  to  write  anything  else  upon 
St.  George's  Day  as  long  as  this  can  be  kept  in  reserve. 

I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  concerned  with 
the  "  Records,"  especially  if  it  is  likely  to  accelerate  a 
work  so  much  wanted  as  that  of  a' Corpus  Historicum. 
What  I  fear  is,  that  it  will  be  very  slowly  performed, 
which  to  a  man  who  wishes  to  make  use  of  it  is  a  serious 
consideration.  These  things  are  best  done  by  an  effi- 
cient academy,  when  there  are  no  monastic  institutions, 
or  none  who  maintain  a  chai-acter  for  erudition.     Such 

*  His  friend  Combe. 


250  LETTERS    OF 


1821. 


an  academy  might  render  very  gi'eat  service  to  British 
literature ;  but  the  scheme  which  was  lately  talked  of 
was  absurd  enough  to  make  the  very  name  ridiculous. 

Do  you  know  that  the  late  *  *  *  *  *^  ^hjle 
he  was  in  office,  transferred  some  very  valuable  papers 
from  the  public  records  to  his  own  possession?  So 
*  *  *  *  of  the  Record  Office,  assured  me,  with  great 
indignation,  he  having  a  proper  sense  of  the  value  of 
such  things. 

I  should  like  to  know  what  your  *'  Corpus "  is  to 
comprehend,  and  how  far  you  purpose  to  come  down 
with  it.  I  hope  the  Saxon  and  Welsh  remains  may 
be  included,  with  literal  Latin  versions.  You  will 
want  more  labourers  than  one.  Palgrave  should  be 
commander-in-chief,  but  he  should  have  others  under 
^ini*  God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Jlickman,  Esq.,  8^-c. 

Keswick,  May  18.  1821. 

My  dear  R., 

Thank  you  for  the  "  Highland  Road  and  Bridge 
Report,"  the  enormous  labour  of  which  I  can  very  well 
understand.  The  plans  provoke  me  by  the  inconveni- 
ence and  ugliness  of  their  economy.  If  we  are  too 
poor  to  afford  anything  ornamental,  they  might  at  least 
have  been  given  upon  plates  the  size  of  the  page,  as 
many  in  each  as  that  size  would  allow.  The  report 
tells  me  of  much  that  I  did  not  know,  and^pleasantly 
reminds  me  of  what  I  did. 

I  was  about  to   ask  you   a  question  which  you  are 
more  likely  than  any  other  person   to  answer.     Wlien 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  251 

was  slavery  abolished  in  England?  or  was  it  ever  abo- 
lished by  any  specific  act  ?  I  find  that  a  great  many 
villains  emancipated  themselves,  during  the  wars  of 
York  and  Lancaster,  by  taking  refuge  in  large  towns, 
and  taking  advantage  of  frequent  changes  of  property, 
and  the  general  insecurity  ;  and  I  find  that,  when  Holin- 
shed  compiled  his  '*  Chronicles,"  any  bondsman  setting 
foot  in  England  became  free,  such  being  *'  the  privilege 
of  our  country,  by  the  especial  grace  of  God  and 
bounty  of  our  princes."  But  I  do  not  find  when  this 
became  law  or  custom  ;  nor  can  I  discover  any  time  or 
state  of  things  when  such  an  act  was  likely  to  have  past. 

The  "Dialogues"  (which  I  believe  I  have  mentioned 
to  you)  lead  me  to  this  enquiry,  and  indeed  to  every- 
thing connected  with  the  progress  of  society  in  England. 

The  progress  of  my  Peninsular  volumes  depends  now 
upon  the  printer.  I  have  corrected  twenty-one  sheets, 
and  expect  that  the  first  volume  will  be  carried  through 
the  press  in  the  course  of  the  autumn  :  whether  it  will 
be  published  then,  or  detained  till  the  whole  is  ready, 
is  as  the  bookseller  thinks  proper. 

Poor  King  of  Portugal  and  Brazil  !  His  coming  to 
Europe  is,  I  have  no  doubt,  a  forlorn  hope  that  he  may 
find  an  asylum  in  England.  Were  it  not  for  Spain,  the 
business  at  Lisbon  might  be  settled  as  easily  as  at 
Naples. 

I  am  glad  you  are  satisfied  with  the  "Vision"  as  a 
metrical  experiment,  concerning  which  different  opinions 
reach  me,  —  the  most  conclusive  being  that  women 
readily  catch  the  rliythm  and  like  it.  The  King  took 
notice  of  it  in  the  best-natured  way  possible,  by  telling 
my  brother  at  the  birthday  that  I  had  sent  him  a  very 
beautiful  poem,  and  that  he  had  read  it  with  great 
pleasure.  The  truth  is,  if  I  had  not  written  something 
out  of  the  common  way,  I  could  not  have  written  at  all 
upon  such  a  subject. 


252  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

The  modern  Oliver  Cromwell  is  a  person  of  that 
•name  who  has  lately  published  memoirs  of  his  great 
ancestor.  I  think  old  Nol  himself  could  not  have 
made  a  worse  book.  Your  belief  in  the  ILIkcov  makes 
me  the  better  pleased  with  having  expressed  ray  own. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

P.  S.  Remember  me,  I  pray  you,  to  Mr.  Telford 
when  you  see  him  ;  I  live  in  hopes  of  seeing  him  here 
one  of  these  days. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  May  27.  1821. 

There  is  an  article  in  Lackington's  Catalogue  (No. 
7825.)  which  I  shoukl  like  you  to  look  at,  —  it  is  a 
large  MS.  concerning  the  negotiation  at  the  Treaty  of 
the  Pyrenees,  in  French,  price  two  guineas,  from  Dr. 
Laurence's  collection.  Portugal  was  so  much  con- 
cerned in  that  treaty,  that  I  should  think  this  MS.  must 
be  worth  having  ;  and  I  would  have  ordered  it  im- 
mediately, only  that  it  is  better  not  to  buy  a  pig  in  a 
poke,  when  there  is  any  one  who  can  be  depended 
upon  (like  little  Stevens)  for  approving  the  pig. 

This  reminds  me  of  my  "  History  of  Portugal,"  and, 
by  that  connection,  that  Sir  Charles  Stuart  sent  a 
message  to  me  through  Henry  Wynn*,  that  he  should  be 
glad  if  I  would  return  his  books  if  I  had  done  with 
them,  not  saying  where  the  single  book  which  I  have 
of  his  should  be  sent,  nor  thanking  me  for  the  "  His- 
tory of  Brazil."       I  have  only   the   "  Valeroso   liUci- 

*  The  present  Sir  Henry  W.  W.  Wynn.     See  Vol.  II.  p.  '295. 


1821.  ROr.I':RT    SOUTIIEY.  253 

deno,"  which  he  sent  by  the  post,  and  for  which  I 
paid  one  guinea  postage,  sixteen  having  been  charged 
for  it.  This  is  not  done  with ;  for  1  am  using  it  in 
improving  my  first  volume,  and  have  to  take  from  it  a 
very  interesting  account  of  the  Duke  of  Braganza's 
mode  of  life  at  Villa  Vicosa.  When  I  have  done  this, 
which  shall  be  at  my  first  convenient  leisure,  the  book 
shall  be  sent  by  some  good  opportunity  to  Harry's,  for 
your  further  direction.  I  shall  not  accompany  it  with 
any  letter  of  thanks  to  Sir  Charles,  because  he  did  not 
think  proper  to  call  upon  me  at  Paris,  where  I  made  it 
my  first  business  to  leave  a  card  at  his  door.* 

The  "  Correio  Braziliense"  is  now  become  an  inter- 
esting work.  Some  of  my  acquaintance  are  in  the 
Cortes.  Baeta  is  one  of  the  moderate  party,  who  are 
for  allowing  a  suspensive  veto,  as  they  call  it,  to  the 
crown  ;  and  the  poor  Coinibra  Professor  of  Botany  of 
Brotero,  keeps  out  of  the  way  upon  ticklish  questions, 
wishing,  no  doubt,  that  he  were  quietly  at  home  with 
his  plants.  I  look  upon  the  King's  return  as  a  measure 
of  personal  safety,  that  he  may  be  within  reach  of  our 
protection,  and  perhaps  of  Austrian  assistance.  The 
same  troops  which  have  quieted  Naples  may  easily  be 
transported  to  Lisbon  ;  and,  at  all  events,  his  life  will  be 
safe  at  Lisbon.  The  proceedings  of  the  Cortes  are  like 
those  in  Spain  at  their  first  meeting,  —  unmethodical, 
precipitate,  metaphysical,  and  mischievous,  good  inten- 
tions being  frustrated  by  the  ignorance  and  inexperience 
of  those  who  put  themselves  forward,  and  the  task  of 
putting  such  a  government  to  rights  requiring  abler 
statesmen  than  could  possibly  grow  up  under  it.  The 
work  of  demolition  is  likely  to  be  very  completely 
done ;    and    if   the    King    could    find    a    minister    like 

*  "  Friday,  May  16. — ^ly  first  business  was  to  leave  a  card  at  Sir 
C.  Stuart's." — MS.  Journal  through  France  and  Switzerland,  lb  17. 


254  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

Pomba],  he  might  build  up  new  institutions,  as  the  new 
city  was  built,  the  old  one  having  been  thrown  down  by 
the  earthquake.  The  end  of  these  convulsions  in  Spain 
I  do  not  expect  to  live  to  see. 

Two  hundred  pages  of  my  "Peninsular  War"  are 
printed.  The  little  volume  of  "  Aguirre's  Adventures" 
will  soon  be  finished,  and  you  will  have  it  in  the  course 
of  two  or  three  weeks.  There  is  another  episode  in 
American  history  which  I  think  of  composing  for  the 
"  Quarterly  Review"  ere  long,  —  the  last  insurrections 
of  the  Indians,  under  one  of  the  Inca  family,  during  the 
American  war.  The  only  account  which  has  ever  been 
published  is  in  the  "  History  of  Buenos  Ayres,"  by 
Funes.  At  present  I  am  finishing  a  life  of  Oliver 
Cromwell  for  the  *'  Review."  Murray  allows  me  to 
make  use  hereafter  of  any  English  lives  which  are  writ- 
ten for  the  "•  Review,"  in  a  series  of  such  lives,  for 
which  he  will  pay  me  500/.  per  volume,  the  intended 
extent  of  the  series  being  six  octavo  volumes. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  May,  Esq. 

Keswick,  June  15.  1821. 

My  dear  Friend, 

The  public  news  from  Brazil  has  made  me  look 
daily,  with  much  anxiety,  for  tidings  concerning  you  — 
in  what  manner  these  revolutionary  movements  may 
have  affected  your  interests.  As  they  have  neither  been 
hasty  nor  unforeseen,  I  should  hope  there  had  been 
time  to  extricate  your  property  from  the  precarious 
hands  in  which  it  was  placed.     But  then  I  call  to  mind 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  255 

how  much  easier  it  is  to  run  into  danger  than  to  with- 
draw from  it,  and  that  tottering  governments  are  too 
much  alarmed  and  perplexed  to  pay  much  regard  to 
their  engagements.  On  the  other  hand,  it  occurs  to  me 
that  the  Government  would  endeavour  to  fulfil  its  en- 
gagements to  British  subjects  in  preference  to  any 
other,  because  the  King's  intention  of  returning  to 
Portugal  must  have,  for  one  chief  motive,  the  desire 
of  feeling  himself  within  reach  of  British   protection. 

I  think  of  writing  a  paper  upon  the  state  of  Por- 
tugal and  Brazil,  for  the  "  Quarterly  Review."  The 
separation  of  the  two  countries  can  hardly  be  prevented 
now  ;  indeed,  the  wisest  conduct  could  only  have  de- 
layed it,  and  brought  it  about  quickly  and  amicably 
by  a  division  of  the  kingdoms,  fixing  one  son  at  Lisbon, 
and  the  other  branch  at  the  Rio.  But  the  tendency  of 
all  commercial  colonies  is  towards  republicanism  :  the 
foundations  upon  which  monarchy  rests  are  wanting. 
It  is  to  be  expected  that  the  Brazilians  will  form  a 
constitution  in  imitation  of  the  American  States,  with- 
out any  regard  to  the  difference  of  their  habits,  cha- 
racter, and  former  institutions.  Disputes  and  divisions 
between  the  great  captaincies  will  be  the  next  step ; 
and  while  the  great  cities  undergo  as  many  revolutions 
as  Buenos  Ayres,  the  interior  will  be  at  the  mercy  of 
troops  of  banditti  as  bad  as  the  worst  of  the  old  Pau- 
listas.  I  can  see  but  one  motive  which  may,  perhaps, 
alarm  the  revolutionary  party,  and  possibly  keep  them 
within  some  bounds  —  a  fear  of  the  negroes,  who,  in 
case  of  civil  war,  ma}'  renew,  in  most  of  the  great 
cities,  the  tragedy  of  St.  Domingo. 

The  prospect  in  Portugal  is  not  so  bad.  The  revo- 
lution there  may  be  prevented  from  going  the  same 
lengths  as  in  Spain,  by  the  situation  of  Lisbon,  where 
England  would  not  suffer  the  King  to  be  put  to  death. 


256  LETTERS  OF  1821. 

and  whither  an  Austrian  force  might  be  transported 
from  Naples,  if  the  tlirone  were  in  danger.  The  Por- 
tuguese reformers  appear  to  mistake  the  nature  of  the 
political  disease  in  that  country,  which  was  less  in  the 
form  of  their  government  than  in  its  corruptions  and 
the  abuse  of  the  laws.  Had  the  laws  been  regularly 
administered,  they  would  not  have  had  occasion  to  try 
their  hands  at  making  a  constitution. 

I  am  bestowing  great  pains  upon  the  first  volume  of 
"  Brazil,"  the  reprinting  of  which  will  soon  be  finished. 
A  great  many  curious  facts  and  details  I  have  got  at  by 
means  of  books  and  papers  which  have  come  to  my 
hands  since  its  first  publication,  particularly  from  a 
"  History  of  the  West  Indian  Company,"  in  Dutch,  by 
Joannes  de  Laet.  The  additions  which  I  have  made 
amount  to  a  tenth  of  the  volume,  as  far  as  the  printing 
has  proceeded.  Thirty  sheets  of  the  *'  Peninsular 
War"  are  printed.  This  is  my  main  business  at  present, 
and  I  must  work  the  closer  at  it,  having  suspended  it 
lately  to  write  a  view  of  Oliver  Crumweirs  life  for  the 
"  Quarterly  Review."  This  I  have  just  finished,  and 
count  upon  its  produce  for  my  Midsummer  bills.  It  is 
a  fine  subject,  but  the  limits  of  a  review  will  not  allow 
room  for  doing  it  justice.  One  of  these  days  I  shall 
enlarge  it  for  insertion  in  the  projected  series  of  bio- 
graphy. 

Richmond  must  be  at  this  time  in  full  beauty  ;  so, 
indeed,  is  Keswick.  Summer  is  come  at  last,  and  the 
delight  of  bathing  draws  me  out  of  doors  when  nothing 
else  would.  In  this  library  of  mine,  I  very  often  think 
of  yours  as  the  only  room  which  may  fairly  vie  with  it. 
If  we  could  but  bring  the  two  within  a  reasonable 
distance  of  each  other,  it  would  add  very  much  to  my 
enjoyments. 

My  uncle  writes  in  good  spirits,  so  that  I  hope   he 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  257 

has  recovered  from  the  effects  of  his  long  and  miserable 
confinement  at  Bristol.  I  hear  a  very  good  account  of 
his  eldest  son  from  Knox,  the  usher  of  his  boarding 
house,  who,  in  kindness  for  me,  takes  more  interest  in, 
and  more  pains  with,  him  than  money  could  purchase. 
The  boy  has  good  talents,  is  not  wanting  in  diligence, 
and  has  the  best  possible  disposition.  It  is  a  great 
source  of  satisfaction  to  me  that  my  uncle's  children 
promise  so  well.  If  it  please  God  that  he  should  live 
to  the  age  of  his  elder  brother,  he  may  by  that 
time  see  the  three  eldest  so  forward  in  the  way  of 
life,  that  they  will  only  have  to  proceed  regularly  in 
the  course  before  them. 

You  could  not  have  fixed  your  son  at  a  better  college 
than  Exeter.  Perhaps  it  has  one  advantage  over  Oriel 
— that  it  does  not  hold  itself  quite  so  high.  My  old 
friend  and  fellow  collegian,  Lightfoot,  has  lately  placed 
a  son  there,  by  Copplestone's  advice,  who  could  not  find 
room  for  him  at  Oriel ;  that  is,  more  suo,  he  preferred 
somebody  of  more  consequence  to  the  son  of  an  old 
acquaintance  in  humble  life.  Your  next  care  respect- 
ing John  will  be  the  choice  of  a  profession  for  him. 
This  is  a  very  anxious  subject.  I  shall  be  an  old  man 
before  it  comes  upon  me,  if  my  poor  Cuthbert  should 
live  to  grow  up,  and  if  I  should  live  to  see —  two  con- 
tingencies, each  of  which  has  the  chances  very  much 
against  it.  At  present,  thank  God  !  he  thrives,  and  is 
as  happy  as  the  day  is  long.  The  others  are  doing 
well.  Your  goddaughter  took  the  field  to-day  with  a 
sketch-book  in  proper  form.  Poor  dear  Nash  was 
always  urging  her  to  this.  Have  you  got  your  portrait? 
Thci-e  is  the  beginning  of  a  letter  biographical  in  my 
desk,  the  date  whereof  makes  me  ashamed.  Re- 
member me  most  kindly  to  Mrs.  May  and  your  daugh- 
ters, and  to  John  also  if  he  be  at  home.  The  two 
VOL.  III.  8 


258  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

Ediths  desire  me  to  present  their  remembrances.     Pray 
let  me  hear  from  you  soon.      God  bless  you. 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

R.    SOUTHEY. 


To  the  Rev.  Neville  While,  ^c. 

Keswick,  June  21.  1821. 

My  bear  Neville, 

The  copyright  act  as  it  now  stands  certainly  ap- 
plies to  the  "Remains;"  the  alteration  in  that  act 
having  been  intended  as  a  favour  to  authors,  and  partly 
also  as  a  set-off  against  the  hardship  of  exacting  the 
eleven  copies.  The  "Remains"  are  your  property  as 
long  as  you  live,  or  either  of  your  sisters,  considering 
the  work  as  your  joint  property. 

You  have  now  to  consider  what  materials  there  are 
which  may  be  published  with  the  Illustrations.  We 
acted  imprudently  in  adding  anything  after  the  first 
edition  ;  nothing  was  gained  by  it,  and  the  only  effect 
was  to  lessen  the  worth  of  the  first  edition,  and  expend 
materials  which  might  now  have  been  turned  to  ac- 
count. Did  I  not  some  years  ago  examine  the  MS. 
volume  in  my  possession  with  this  view,  and  send  you 
what  could  be  gleaned  from  it  ?  I  seem  to  recollect 
so,  but  am  not  certain. 

With  regard  to  the  portrait  of  your  excellent  mo- 
ther, there  will  come  a  time  when  both  her  portrait  and 
yours  ought  to  accompany  these  *'  Remains."  The  ob- 
jection which  you  feel  in  one  instance  applies  to  both, 
and  long  may  it  be  before  that  objection  shall  cease  to 
exist. 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  259 

It  is  a  long  while  since  I  heard  of  Wm.  Westall ; 
but  if  he  moves  nortlivvarcl  this  year,  he  is  very  likely 
to  take  Nottingham  in  his  way,  certainly  could  make  it 
so  without  any  inconvenience. 

Your  weather,  it  seems,  has  been  like  ours,  cold  and 
ungenial.  I  see  by  the  papers  that  the  season  has  been 
equally  unfavourable  in  France ;  imless  there  be  a 
speedy  change,  the  agriculturists  will  not  have  cause  to 
complain  of  a  plentiful  harvest  this  3'ear  as  an  aggra- 
vation of  their  distresses.  Here  we  are  in  great  want 
of  rain.  We  had  a  few  warm  days  last  week,  which  1 
made  the  most  of,  and  took  a  delicious  bath  every  day 
up  the  River  Greta,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  distant. 

I  am  now  closely  employed  upon  the  "  History  of 
the  Peninsular  War,"  of  which  the  thirty-second  sheet 
is  now  before  me.  It  is  a  singularly  interesting  occu- 
pation thus  to  record  a  series  of  events  the  progress  of 
which  I  watched  so  earnestly  and  anxiously  ;  and  now, 
with  the  whole  before  me,  to  observe  wherein  I  judged 
rightly  at  the  time,  and  wherein  the  opinions  which  I 
then  formed  were  erroneous.  I  do  not  find  tliat  I  was 
mistaken  upon  any  point  of  importance,  except  in  ex- 
pecting good  from  assembling  the  Cortes.  The  subject 
is  a  noble  one,  and  remarkably  complete.  With  the  se- 
cond part  of  the  tragedy  I  have  nothing  to  do,  and  God 
knows  what  the  end  will  be,  or  who  will  live  to  see  it. 

Chancey  Townsend  wrote  to  me  for  your  direction, 
when  he  published  his  volume  of  poems,  meaning,  I  be- 
lieve, to  send  you  a  copy.  You  will  be  pleased  with 
many  of  them.  They  breathe  a  sweet  strain  of  natural 
feeling.  There  is  a  tale  in  Crabbe's  manner,  which  is 
very  well  told,  but  the  story  is  of  a  kind  which  excites 
nothing  but  pain  in  the  perusal. 

You  -will  doubtless  form  by  degrees  a  clerical  li- 
brary. They  are  reprinting  "  Strype's  Lives"  at  the 
Clarendon  Press.     The  writings  of  this  very  useful  and 

8  2 


260  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

laborious  man  *  contain  tlie  fullest  account  of  whatever 
concerns  the  Church  of  Ensrland  from  the  commence- 
ment  of  the  Reformation  to  the  beginning  of  James  the 
First's  reign.  We  are  promised  also  from  the  same 
press  a  collection  of  South's  works  —  a  man  of  incompa- 
rable powers  of  reasoning  and  strength  of  mind,  and 
whom  I  do  not  like  the  worse  for  his  honest  acrimony 
against  those  who  had  stirred  up  these  kingdoms  to  re- 
bellion. Reginald  Heber  is  publishing  Jeremy  Tay- 
lor's works,  the  most  eloquent  of  our  divines,  perhaps 
of  all  our  writers,  —  wise,  and  gentle,  and  amiable; 
but  as  liable  to  be  led  astray  by  the  warmth  of  his 
fancy,  as  South  was  by  the  heat  of  his  temper,  though 
in  a  different  direction.  They  are,  however,  both  safe 
guides,  and  sound  pillars  of  our  Church  ;  for  Taylor 
errs  only  in  accrediting  too  easily  suspicious  legends  of 
tbe  early  Romish  church,  and  in  admitting,  what  is  and 
must  be  mere  supposition  to  assume,  in  his  own  nund 
something  like  tlie  consistency  of  belief.  You  know 
what  the  late  King  said  of  the  divines  of  that  age,  — 
*'  There  tvere  giants  in  those  days.'"  God  bless  you. 
My  dear  Neville, 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

Robert  Soutiiey. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Ilill 

Keswick,  July  2.  1821. 

I  HAVE  the  whole  series  of  "  Harris's  Lives," — some 
of  the   most  worthless  books  they  are  that  ever  were 

*  "  Good  old  John  Strype,  one  of  those  humble  and  happy- 
minded  men  who,  by  diligent  labouring  in  the  fields  of  literature, 
find  ^vllile  they  live  an  enjoyment  from  which  time  takes  away 
nolhing  of  its  relish,  and  secure  for  themselves  an  honourable  and 
lasting  remembrance  in  the  gratitude  of  posterity." — Vindicice 
Eccl.  Anglican ce,  p.  3C0. 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  261 

pufFed  into  reputation.  The  author, — if  autlior  he  may 
be  called,  —  was  a  dissenting  minister,  and  therefore 
praised  by  his  brethren,  the  reviewers  of  that  day  ;  and 
at  that  time,  when  few  persons  thought  of  consulting  an 
original  writer,  he  obtained  a  character  for  research, 
because  he  strung  together,  in  the  most  unmethodical 
and  inconvenient  manner  possible,  a  heap  of  extracts 
with  little  or  no  discrimination,  and  in  the  worst  spirit 
of  his  cast.  My  paper  upon  Cromwell's  life  is  finished, 
and  the  proofs  returned  to  Murray.  It  is  long  for  its 
place,  but  too  short  by  half  for  its  subject. 

Some  anonymous  person  has  written  me  a  letter  for 
the  purpose  of  telling  me,  seriously  and  civilly,  that  it 
is  my  duty  to — make  a  new  version  of  the  psalms,  and 
lay  it  before  the  King,  to  be  by  him  approved  and 
appointed  to  be  sung  in  churches  !  !  My  correspond- 
ence extraordinary  would  make  a  curious  volume. 

Dibdin,  with  whom  I  have  no  other  acquaintance 
than  that  of  having  once  dined  with  him  at  Longman's, 
has  very  civilly  sent  me  his  "Bibliographical  Tour," 
which  is  more  beautifully  embellished  than  any  work  I 
ever  saw.  He  prints  one  edition,  and  then  destroys  the 
plates — a  fashion  which  is  worse  than  stupid.  Ten 
guineas  is  the  price  of  the  three  volumes.  Murray  sent 
me  "  Captain  Parry's  Voyage  ;  "  and  I  have  got  from  a 
catalogue  Bishop  Racket's  "  Life  of  the  Lord  Keeper 
Archbishop  Williams."  They  have  begun  to  publisli 
Strype's  "Lives  at  Oxford,"  and  I  have  sent  for  those 
which  are  advertised.  I  picked  out  lately  from  the 
books  of  our  late  vicar  a  "  History  of  the  Convocation," 
"  Whiston's  Memoirs  of  Himself,"  and  the  "  Christian 
Directory  of  Father  Persons  "  *  (commonly  called  Par- 
sons), which  I  shall  put  in  as  good  a  cover  as  this 
country  can  make  for  it,  it  being  at  present  too  ragged 
to  be  read. 

*  This  volume  was  printed  at  Douay,  1650. 
s  3 


262  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

The  Cortes  have  voted  to  turn  the  Franciscans  out  of 
!Mafra,  and  jiot  to  put  the  Canons  in.  The  convent 
libraries,  or  what  remains  of  them,  will,  I  dare  say, 
soon  be  in  the  market ;  and  many  books  will  then  be 
sold  as  waste  paper  for  which  I  should  be  glad  to  pay 
largely  if  it  were  within  reach ! 

The  printer  gets  on  well  with  my  History.  If  you 
like  to  look  at  it  in  its  progress,  Bedford  has  the  clean 
sheets,  which  I  shall  not  want  till  the  close  of  the 
volume.  I  wish  Fi'ere  were  in  England  ;  he  promised 
me  papers  which  he  always  delayed  to  send,  but  I 
should  have  had  them  now ;  and  by  means  of  question- 
ing, I  could  have  obtained  from  him  much  satisfactory 
information  concerning  individuals  whom  he  knew,  and 
affairs  in  which  he  was  engaged.  If  he  comes  home 
this  summer,  he  may  yet  be  in  time  for  me. 

My  annual  cold  is  in  great  perfection  at  this  time.  I 
am  now  trying  a  course  of  exercise  for  it,  have  walked 
ten  miles  to-day,  and  mean  to  walk  twenty  to-morrow. 
Mrs.  Keenan  is  with  us,  sister  of  General  M'Kinnon, 
who  was  killed  at  Ciudad  Rodrigo.  A  cart  full  of 
females  goes  to-morrow  to  Buttermere,  and  I  am  the 
footman  of  the  party. 

Love  to  my  aunt  and  the  children.  I  have  some  ex- 
pectation of  seeing  Elmsley  here  this  summer. 

God  bless  you. 

XV.    S. 


To  Bernard  Barton,  Esq. 

Keswick,  July  9.  1821. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  had  not  leisure  to  reply  to  your  former  letter 
when   it  arrived :  a  full  reply  to  it,  indeed,  would  re- 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  263 

quire  a  dissertation  rather  than  a  letter.  The  influence 
of  tlie  Holy  Spirit  is  believed  by  all  Christians,  except 
the  Ultra-Socinians ;  the  more  pious  Socinians  would 
admit  it,  though  under  a  diff'erent  name.  But  the 
question,  "  What  is,  and  what  is  not,  the  effect  of  that 
influence?"  is  precisely  asking  where,  in  religious  cases, 
reason  ends  and  insanity  begins.  In  all  communities 
of  Christians  there  have  been,  and  are,  persons  who 
mistake  their  own  imaginations  for  inspiration  :  and 
that  this  was  done  in  some  cases  by  the  early  Qua- 
kers, the  present  members  of  that  society  would  not 
deny. 

It  is  always  my  custom  to  have  a  work  long  in  my 
thoughts  before  it  is  taken  actually  in  hand,  and  to 
collect  materials,  and  let  the  plan  digest  while  my  main 
occupation  is  upon  some  other  subject,  which  has  under- 
gone the  same  slow  but  necessary  process.  At  present 
I  am  printing  the  "  History  of  the  Peninsular  War," — • 
a  great  work  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  this  is  not  the 
only  work  which  I  shall  bring  out,  before  the  "  Life  of 
George  Fox"  becomes  my  immediate  business.  One 
great  advantage  arising  from  this  practice  is,  that  much 
in  tlie  mean  time  is  collected  in  the  course  of  otlier  pur- 
suits which  would  not  have  been  found  by  a  direct 
search  ;  facts  and  observations  of  great  importance  fre- 
quently occurring  where  the  most  diligent  investigator 
would  never  think  of  looking  for  them.  The  habit  of 
noting  and  arranging  such  memoranda  is  acquired  gra- 
dually, and  can  hardly  be  learnt .  otherwise  than  by 
experience. 

So  Bonaparte  is  now  as  dead  as  Caesar  and  Alexander  ! 
I  did  not  read  the  tidings  of  his  death  without  a  mourn- 
ful feeling,  which  I  am  sure  you  also  must  have  experi- 
enced, and  which  I  think  you  are  likely  as  well  as  able  to 
express  in  verse.     It  is  an  event  which  will  give  vent  to 

s  4 


264  LETTERS   OP 


1821, 


many  poems,  but  I  see  no  one  so  likely  as  yourself  to 
touch  the  right  strings.      Farewell, 

And  believe  me  yours  very  truly, 

Robert  Southey, 

P.S.  I  do  not  remember  whether  I  told  you  that 
Thomas  Wilkinson,  who  is  a  collector  of  autographs, 
showed  me  a  specimen  of  George  Fox's  handwriting, 
and  told  me  it  bore  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  Mira- 
beau's, — than  whom  it  would  not  be  possible  to  find  a 
man  more  unlike  him  in  everything  else. 


To  C.  W.  W.  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  August  19.  1821. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Returning  yesterday  from  a  fortnight's  visit  at 
Netherhall,  I  found  on  my  chimney-piece  a  card  with 
these  lines :  — 

"  Southey,  for  thee,  whom  not  one  Muse  neglects, 
A  quondam  critic  leaves  his  kind  respects  ; 
Long  us'd  thy  genius  and  thy  worth  to  scan, 
Who  loves  the  Poet,  fain  would  know  the  Man." 

On  the  other  side  was  the  name  of  the  Rev.  Archdeacon 
Nares.  That  name  recalls  many  recollections,  now  more 
than  thirty  years  old,  of  which,  in  all  human  probability, 
not  a  trace  will  remain  on  earth  thirty  years  hence, — 
the  Bishopric,  the  Lord  H.,  and  that  city  which  will 
be  more  irrecoverably  lost  than  Atlantis  or  the  Ten 
Tribes.     He  saw  my  aunt  Mary,  who  introduced  him 


1821,  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  265 

to  my  den,  wliich  he  pronounced  a  very  comfortable 
one,  as  in  truth  it  is ;  so  comfortable,  so  every  way 
suited  to  my  wants  and  wishes,  that  I  have  not  a  desire 
beyond  it. 

Netherhall,  where  I  have  been  with   Mrs.  Southey 
and  my  eldest  and  youngest  children,  belongs  to  Sen- 
house,  my  fellow-traveller  in  Switzerland.     The  tower 
in  which  we  slept  was  standing  in  Edward  the  Second's 
reign,  and  some  of  his  papers  go  back   as  far  as   the 
reigns  of  Edward  I.,  Henry  III., —  one  as  far  as  King 
John.      One  of  his  family  preached  Charles  the  First's 
coronation  sermon,  upon  a  text  which  was   afterwards 
noted  as  ominous.     In  the  wars  which  ensued,  the  se- 
cond of  two  sons  served  in  the  King's  army.    The  eldest 
brother  died,  and  the  parents  then  wished  to  recall  the 
survivoi",  lest  their  line  should  be  extinct ;  but  knowing, 
or  having  found,  that  other  means  would  not  succeed, 
they  sent  a  faithful  tenant  of  the  family  to  persuade 
him  to  return.    The  event  was  that  this  tenant  remained 
to  take  his  chance  in  the  same  good  cause.     They  were 
at   Marston   Moor   together,  and   at   Naseby.       There 
Senhouse  fell :  his  friend  searched  the  field  for  his  body, 
and  found   him   dreadfully  cut,   and  with   a  fractured 
skull,  but  still  breathing.     By  timely  care  he  was  re- 
covered, and  lived  to  continue  the  race  :   the  tenant  had 
his  land  enfranchised,  and  both   properties  are  still  in 
the  same  lines.     Senhouse's  sword  has  the  back  notched 
on  each  side,  so  as  to  form  a  double-toothed  saw,  to  be 
used  as  such  I  suppose,  for  in  a  sword  of  that  shape, 
made  to  cut  and  not  to  thrust  with,  this  could  not  be 
intended  to  make  a  worse  wound.     I  never  saw  one  of 
the  kind  before. 

My  brother  Henry  writes  me  that  Alexander  the 
Ventriloquist  is  looking  for  me  with  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction from  a  member  of  the  Dutch  Institute,  whose 
wife  has   translated   "  Roderick  "  into  the  language  of 


266  LETTERS   or  1821, 

the  Hogen  Mogen.  When  this  Laker  extraordinary 
arrives,  he  ouglit  to  read  me  a  specimen  of  the  transla- 
tion in  his  belly,  to  give  it  its  full  effect ! 

The  Massachusetts'  Historical  Society  have  given  me 
another  tail  to  my  name,  and  one  of  my  New  England 
acquaintances  has  sent  me  some  good  books  of  Ame- 
rican growth,  to  assist  in  the  progress  of  "  O.  Newman." 
That  poem  is  expected  more  eagerly  in  America  than 
in  England.  There  are  some  very  interesting  and  able 
pa])ers  in  the  "  Transactions  of  the  American  Philoso- 
phical Society,"  of  which  only  one  volume  has  been 
published :  they  relate  to  the  Indians ;  and  an  anti- 
quarian society  has  published  the  first  volume  of  an 
*'  Archaologia  Americana,"  in  which  is  a  minute  account 
of  the  encampments,  mounds,  &c.,  raised  (in  all  likeli- 
hood) by  the  Aztecas  on  their  way  to  Mexico. 

I  have  printed  forty-two  sheets  of  the  "  History  of 
the  War."  Mr.  Clive  offered  me  some  materials,  some 
of  which,  no  doubt,  might  be  very  useful  to  me,  if  I 
knew  what  they  were.  I  have  lost  my  correspondents 
in  Spain  and  Brazil  by  death,  and  a  great  loss  it  is. 

Heber  has  had  my  best  word  and  wishes.  His  oppo- 
nents have  acted  in  a  very  unhandsome  manner.  My 
brother,  when  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  Middlesex 
Hospital,  kept  upon  such  courteous  terms  with  his 
opponent,  as  to  obtain  his  assistance  for  the  next  trial, 
and  live  with  him  from  that  time  in  terms  of  thorough 
intimacy. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

P.S.  August  20tli.  Some  Cathedrals  of  Sir  T.  Ac- 
land's  introducing  dine  with  me  to-day.  That  word 
by  a  comical  confusion,  first  between  Collegian  and 
College,  and  then  between  College  and  Cathedral,  has 
been  given  by  the  people  of  this  country  to  the   Cam- 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  267 

bridge  men,  whom  a  late  fashion  sends  here  in  flights 
to  study  during  the  long  vacation.  One  of  them,  who 
lodged  at  Clarke,  the  gardener's,  had  a'  bill  sent  in 
beginning,  "  Mr.  Clarke's  Cathedral  to  J.  G."  &c. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  August  31.  1821. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

'Ip  ^  ^  tF  T^P  ^ 

That  ever  I  should  be  worth  6251.  in  the  Three 
per  cents !  Thank  you  for  the  trouble  you  have  taken. 
When  you  receive  the  dividend  you  may  buy  in  another 
50/.  therewith. 

While  I  was  at  Netherhall,  Nares  left  a  card  here,  with 
some  complimentary  verses  on  the  back.  My  aunt  saw 
him,  and  showed  him  this  room,  where  he  looked  at  the 
books  and  pictures,  and  admired  my  habitat,  and  the 
comforts  which  are  collected  about  me.  His  London 
address  is  written  upon  his  card,  so  that  I  am  bound  to 
a  return  of  this  civility  when  next  I  visit  town. 

I  do  not  take  "John  Bull,"  and  for  these  reasons: 
1.  Because  Calvert  and  I  take  the  "  Guardian."  2. 
Because  I-jjer-se-I  (if  that  compound  be  not  as  mongrel 
in  person  as  in  language)  take  the  "Westmoreland 
Gazette,"  as  it  becomes  me  to  do.  3.  Because  I  hate 
slander,  and  would  have  all  newspapers  that  deal  in 
slander  suppressed,  if  that  were  possible. 

To-day  I  have  completed  my  laborious  correction 
or,  more  strictly  speaking,  amplification  of  the  first 
volume  of  "  Brazil,"  on  which  as  much  work  has  been 


268  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

bestowed  as  would  in  another  shape  have  been  worth 
200/.,  and  here  it  will  not  produce  me  one  farthing. 

Health  to  your  best-for-nothing  cat !  Alas  !  we  are 
catless  and  kittenless. 

Senhouse  gave  me  on  my  birthday  a  bottle  of  To- 
kav,  curious  for  its  history.  It  was  sent  to  his  father 
about  forty  years  ago,  by  Baron  Corry  (a  relation  of 
Isaac  Corry 's),  from  Dantzic  ;  he  had  received  it  as  a 
present  from  Stanislaus,  king  of  Poland  (whose  seal 
was  on  the  cork),  and  Stanislaus  had  it  from  the  Em- 
peror Joseph.  And  in  this  baronial,  royal,  and  impe- 
rial Tokay  the  healths  of  the  king  and  his  poet  were 
drunk. 

There  is  a  flavour  of  melancholy  about  all  this  which 
makes  it  worth  remembering. 

I  am  more  than  sorry  that  you  give  up  the  thoughts 
of  seeing  Skiddaw  this  year,  and  that  Henry  is  out  of 
order.     The  journey  would  do  him  good. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  a  W.  W.  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Sept.  1.  1821. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Learning  from  you  that  the  old  "Avaf  avBpcov 
is  still  in  the  land  of  the  living,  I  have  done  what 
uncertainty  upon  that  point  has  long  withheld  me  from 
doing — written  to  him.  Poor  fellow,  were  we  ever  to 
.meet  again  (and  yet  I  hope  we  shall),  the  first  feeling 
would  bring  tears  into  our  eyes.  An  hour  or  two  of 
delightful  reminiscences  w^ould  follow,  and  perhaps  when 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  269 

the  old  stock  of  sympathy  was  exhausted,  we  should  be 
at  a  loss  for  other  topics,  and  perceive  how  widely  we 
have  grown  asunder. 

I  do  not  remember  Dickins.  Wintle  I  should  have 
guessed  to  be  as  little  susceptible  of  change  as  the 
Saracen's  Head.  But  I  should  have  thought  the  bride- 
groom D'Oyley  as  little  to  be  aged, — a  badger  you  know 
is  always  gray, —  and  he  was  an  old  fellow  at  school. 
Barns  claimed  acquaintance  with  me  at  Oxford  last 
year;  and  I  certainly  should  not  have  known  him, 
though  when  he  named  himself  I  recognised  something 
of  his  features. 

Did  you  ever  see  a  sword  of  Cromwell's  age,  having 
the  back  of  the  blade  hollow,  and  the  hilt  loaded  with 
quicksilvei',  so  as  to  give  weight  to  the  blow? — I  forget 
where  I  have  seen  an  allusion  to  such  a  weapon — either 
in  Fuller,  I  think,  or  in  Jeremy  Taylor ;  a  clumsy 
contrivance,  and  more  likely  to  make  the  owner  of  the 
sword  wield  it  awkwardly  than  to  give  him  any  advan- 
tage. The  mention  of  J.  Taylor  reminds  me  of  some 
gross  misprints  in  Reginald  Heber's  edition,  which  I 
wish  I  had  marked  at  the  time,  that  he  might  have  given 
orders  to  cancel  the  leaves.  A  careful  corrector  of  the 
press  is  hardly  now  to  be  found  in  any  printing  office. 
The  octavo  edition  of  Burke's  works,  which  I  possess, 
is  made  in  many  places  utterly  unintelligible  by  its  ex- 
treme inaccuracy. 

Have  you  seen  the  most  laborious  work  that  ever 
proceeded  from  "Wales — Major  Price's  "Retrospect  of 
Mahommedan  History,"  from  Oriental  authorities,  in 
four  quarto  volumes,  printed  at  Brecknock  ?  From  the 
last  volume  I  learn,  what  I  could  have  forewarned  him 
of  (had  I  known  him)  before  he  sent  the  first  to  the 
press, —  that  there  are  not  many  persons,  like  myself, 
who  will  purchase  such  a  work. 

I  am  going  to  Lowther  in  the  course  of  this  month, 


270  LETTERS   OP  1821. 

and  wish  you  were  to  be  there.     You  shall  have  a  por- 
tion of  "  O.  Newman  "  in  two  or  three  days. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Sep.  14.  1821. 

Dear  Stumparumper, 

Don't  rub  your  eyes  at  that  word,  Bedford,  as  if 
you  were  slopy.  The  purport  of  this  letter,  which  is 
to  be  as  precious  as  the  punic  scenes  in  Plautus,  is  to 
give  you  some  account  (though   but  an  imperfect   ome) 

of  the  language  spoken  in  this  house  by ,  and 

invented  by  her.  I  have  carefully  composed  a  vocabu- 
lary of  it  by  the  help  of  her  daughter  and  mine,  having 
my  ivory  tablets  always  ready  when  she  is  red-raggifying 
in  full  confabulumpatus.  True  it  is  that  she  has  called 
us  persecutorums,  and  great  improprietors  for  perform- 
ing this  meritorious  task,  and  has  often  told  me  not  to 
be  such  a  stuposity  ;  threatening  us  sometimes  that  she 
will  never  say  anything  that  ends  in  lumpatus  again ; 
and  sometimes  that  slie  will  play  the  very  dunder;  and 
sometimes  bidding  us  get  away  with  our  toadymidjer- 
ings.  And  she  asks  me,  how  I  can  be  such  a  Tom- 
noddycum  (though  my  name,  as  she  knows,  is  Robert), 
and  calls  me  detesty,  a  mafFrum,  a  goffrum,  a  chatter- 
pye,  a  sillycum,  and  a  great  mawkinfort. 

But  when  she  speaks  of  you  it  is  with  a  kinder  mean- 
ing. You  are  not  a  vulgar  urn,  nor  a  great  ovverum 
govverum.  The  appellations  which  she  has  in  store  for 
you  are  either  words  of  direct   endearment,   or  of  that 


1821.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  271 

sort  of  objurgation  which  is  the  playfullest  mood  of 
kindness.  Thus  you  are  a  stumparumper,  because  you 
are  a  shortycum  ;  and  you  are  a  vvattlykin,  a  tendrum,  a 
detestabumpus,  and  a  figurumpus.  These  are  the  words 
which  come  from  her  chapset  when  she  speaks  of  you, 
and  you  need  not  be  told  what  they  signifump. 

I  dare  say  you  have  set  up  a  whickerandus  at  this, 
and  I  hope  you  will  not  be  dollatory  in  expressing  the 
satisfaction  which  you  derive  from  knowing  that  you 
are  thus  decidedly  in  her  good  graces.  Perhaps  you 
may  attempt  an  answer  in  the  same  strain,  and  show 
yourself  none  of  the  little  blunderums  who  deserve  to 
»be  bangated,  but  an  apt  pupolion,  which  if  you  do,  you 
will  deserve  to  be  called  as  clever  as  De  Diggle. 

Great  light  has  been  thrown  upon  the  philosophy  of 
language  by  Humboldt,  the  traveller,  who,  if  we  con- 
sider the  variety  and  the  extent  of  his  attainments,  may 
justly  be  considered  as  the  most  accomplished  of  living 
men.  Mr.  Duponceau,  of  New  York,  is  treading  in  his 
steps.  From  their  researches,  and  those  of  our  coun- 
trymen in  India,  it  appears  that  there  are  two  kinds  of 
languages  essentially  diiferent  from  those  of  Europe : 
the  monosyllabic,  which  prevails  in  China  and  the  ad- 
jacent countries  ;  and  the  polysynthetic,  to  which  the 
various  languages  of  the  American  tribes  belong.  It  is 
much  to  be  regretted  that  ******  i^ew  lanoruao-e 
is  not  in  like  manner  investigated  by  some  profound 
philologist.  ******  perhaps,  by  the  application 
of  Kant's  philosophy,  might  analyze  and  discover  the 
principles  of  its  construction.  I,  though  a  diligent  and 
faithful  observer,  must  confess  that  I  have  but  little  in- 
sight into  it.  I  can  indeed  partly  guess  why  donkeys 
are  in  the  language  called  jacks,  and  why  peck  is  a  nose  ; 
why  some  part  of  an  elephant's  trunk  is  a  griper,  but 
not  why  it  is  a  snipe  ;  why  nog  is  a  lump,  bungay  a 
bundle,  and  why  trottlykins  should  stand  for  children's 


272  LETTERS   OF 


1821. 


feet ;  but  not  why  my  feet  and  yours  should  be  oppro- 
briously  termed  hocksen  and  liormangorgs.  So,  too, 
when  I  hear  needles  called  novvgurs,  ladies  laduls,  whis- 
pering twistering,  vinegar  wiganar,  and  a  mist  fogo- 
grum,  or  fogrogrum,  I  have  some  glimpse,  though  but 
a  glimpse,  of  the  principle  upon  which  these  mologisms 
are  fabricated.  I  can  perceive  also  the  analogies  by 
which  the  new  vocabulary  is  to  be  extended.  For  ex- 
ample, pie  being  called  pie-ie-ie,  it  follows  that  pud- 
ding should  be  pudding-udding-udding.  And  a  pew 
being  called  pewdiddledo,  to  be  consistent,  we  should 
speak  of  the  churchdiddledurch,  the  clerkdiddlederk, 
and  the  parsondiddledarson, —  only  that  this  might  ap- 
pear disrespectful  to  the  vicar. 

But  I  should  in  vain  seek  to  discover  the  rationale 
of  oilier  parts  of  this  speech,  though  I  were  to  study 
the  subject  till  I  were  as  tired  as  a  dog's  detested  hinder. 
And  when  I  get  at  the  meaning  by  asking  an  explana- 
tion, still  no  clue  to  the  derivation  is  afforded.  Thus, 
for  instance,  when  it  was  said,  "  Don't  roakin  there,"  and 
I  desired  to  know  what  was  intended  by  this  prohibition, 
the  answer  was  "Everybody  says  roakin;  "  and  when  I 
pressed  for  farther  information,  I  was  informed  that 
roaking  was  digging  and  grumping  in  a  work-box.  So, 
too,  on  the  way  from  Mrs.  Calvert's  one  evening,  I  was 
desired  to  stop  till  she  bad  gathered  up  her  doddens, 
and  that  word  was  interpreted  to  mean  a  plaid,  a  pair 
of  pattens,  and  an  umbrella.  If  my  foot  happens  to 
touch  her  chair,  I  am  told  that  anything  whidgetting 
the  chair  makes  her  miseraboble.  If  the  children —  the 
childeroapusses  I  should  say  —  are  bangrampating  about 
the  house,  they  are  said  to  be  rudderish  and  roughcum- 
tathcrick.  Cuthbert's  mouth  is  called  sometimes  a 
jabberumpeter,  sometimes  a  towsalowset.  When  the 
word  comfortabuttle  is  used,  I  suppose  it  may  be  de- 
signed to  mean   that  there  is  comfort  in  a  bottle.     But 


1S21.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  273 

by  what  Imaginable  process  of  language  and  association 
snoutarumpetev  can  be,  as  she  declares  it  to  be,  a  short 
way  of  calling  mother,  I  am  altogether  unable  to  com- 
prehend. 

On  one  occasion,  however,  I  was  fortunate  enough  to 
see  this  extraordinary  language  in  the  mint,  if  I  may  so 
express  myself,  and  in  the  very  act  of  its  coinage. 
Speaking  of  a  labourer,  she  said  —  "the  thumper,  the 
what-d'ye-callder — the  undoer, — I  can't  hit  upon  it, — 
the  cutter-up."  These  were  the  very  words,  received 
and  noted  as  they  came  fresh  from  the  die  ;  and  they 
meant  a  man  who  was  chopping  wood. 

I  must  now  bring  this  letter  to  a  conclusion.  The 
account  indeed  is  very  incomplete,  but  you  may  rely 
upon  its  fidelity  ;  and  though  of  necessity  I  have  spelt 
the  words  according  to  their  pronunciation,  I  hope  that 
this  has  not  occasioned  any  disvugurment,  and  that 
none  of  them  in  reading  will  stick  in  your  thrapple. 
The  subject  cannot  be  so  important  to  you  as  it  is  to 
me  who  live  in  a  house  where  this  language  is  spoken, 
and  therefore  have  been  obliged  to  pay  attention  to  it. 
Yet  it  will  not  appear  altogether  incurious,  connected  as 
it  is  with  the  science  of  philology  ;  and  perhaps  your  re- 
gard for  the  inventor  may  give  it  a  more  than  ordinary 
interest  in  your  eyes. 

I  remain,  my  dear  Sir, 

Your  obedient  humble  servant, 

JtiOBERT    SOUTHEY. 

P.S.  I  forgot  to  say  that  apple-dumple-dogs  are 
apple  dumplings,  and  that  Dogroggarum  is  a  word  of 
reproach  for  a  dog. 


VOL.  III. 


274  LETTERS   OF  1821. 


To  a  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Sept.  29.  1821. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Leverett  is  a  real  personage  —  Governor  of  New 
England  at  that  time  —  and  believed  to  have  been  privy 
to  GofFe  and  Whalley's  place  of  concealment,  and  instru- 
mental in  saving  them.  There  is  a  most  extraordinary 
book  called  a  "  History  of  the  Three  Judges,"  by  Dr. 
Ezra  Stiles,  one  of  the  last  Presidents  of  Yale  College. 
Nothing  more  gossiping  ever  appeared  in  the  "  Gentle- 
man's ISIagazine  ;"  and  nothing  more  thoroughly  ran- 
corous could  have  been  written  by  Hugh  Peters  himself. 
And  yet  Ezra  Stiles  was  a  kind,  simple-hearted  creature, 
to  that  the  milk  of  his  nature,  and  the  vinegar  and  gall 
of  his  prejudices,  make  the  strangest  compound  in  the 
world.  The  book  is  valuable  as  a  curiosity,  and  it  has 
given  me  many  useful  hints.  "  Leverett  "  is  certainly 
not  a  name  that  J.  should  have  chosen,  for  the  reason 
Avhich  you  point  out.  Randolph,  also,  is  an  historical 
character  in  very  ill  odour  with  the  New  Englanders. 

I  cannot  call  to  mind  my  authority  for  the  word 
accoil,  though  I  certainly  used  it  in  "  Roderick  "  as  an 
authorised  word :  that  is  to  say,  it  occurred  to  me  as 
such,  and  I  had  no  suspicion  that  it  might  be  otherwise. 
Spenser,  I  know,  uses  the  verb.*  Ipecacuanha  was  in 
use  long  before  that  age.  The  word  is  Brazilian  ;  and 
the  medical  properties  of  the  plant  were  known  in 
Europe  soon  after  the  discovery  of  the  country  where 
it  grows. 

I  have  had  a  very  pleasing  letter  from  Combe,  who 
seems  to  have  fallen  into  a  peaceful  and  happy  way  of 
life,  which  might  be  thought  natural  too  for  a  younger 

*  "  About  the  caudron  many  cookes  accoyld 

With  hookes  and  ladles,  as  need  did  require." 

The  Faerie  Quccne,  II.  ix.  30. 
It  is  evidently  derived  from  the  Italian  accogliere. 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  275 

brother,  if  it  were  not  unusual  in  these  times.  Ever 
since  he  left  the  Temple  he  has  lived  in  his  brother's 
house  ;  and  there  he  is  likely  to  continue,  the  main 
value  of  one  of  the  livings  which  have  just  been  given 
him  being  that  it  renders  his  residence  there  legal. 
The  preferment  which  you  saw  noticed  in  the  news- 
paper is  from  300/.  to  400/.  a  year ;  and  he  had  two 
small  perpetual  curacies  before,  one  of  whicli  was 
given  him  by  Hanning.  He  is  not  married,  and  speaks 
of  himself  as  leading  a  life  of  tranquil  enjoyment  in 
ihe  house  where  he  was  born,  free  from  fat  and  the 
gout,  and  not  more  altered  than  must  be  expected  from 
the  wear  and  tear  of  time. 

Your  mention  of  Blake  reminds  me  of  his  brother, 
with  whom  I  had  that  kind  of  familiarity  which  juxta- 
position sometimes  brings  about,  when  he  used  to  come 
out  of  the  shell  and  sit  in  the  Fifth,  where  my  station 
was  at  that  time.  I  should  like  to  know  what  is 
become  of  liim,  and  to  meet  him  again. 

Most  of  the  shafts  which  are  aimed  at  me  are  sine 
ictu  —  unseen,    unfelt.       I    have    neither    seen    "  Don 
Juan,"  nor  the  *' Edinburgh  "  nor  the  "Eclectic"  Re- 
views-    The   latter  is  in  able  hands.     The  editor  and 
proprietor   I  know  :  his    name   is  Conder.     He    is    of 
Puritanical  extraction,  and  holds  most  of  the  opinions 
which  were  in   fashion  under  Cromwell  —  a  thorough 
Independent.     He  is  a  clever,  clear-headed,  good  man. 
Foster,  the  essayist,  is  one  of  his  supporters ;  and  the 
most  violent  political  papers  in  the  "  Review  "  come 
from    him.       Fine    literature    is    either    reviewed    by 
Conder  himself,  or  by  Montgomery,  who  is  a  Moravian. 
I  o-o  to  Lowther  to-morrow  for  a  few  days.     Perhaps 
when  I  return  I  may  take  up  "  Oliver  Newman  "  with 
more  spirit,  because  you  like  its  progress. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

T    2 


276  LETTEES   OP  1821. 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Oct.  8.  1821. 

My  dear  G., 

Mackenzie,  with  his  usual  obligingness,  has  sent 
me  the  details  which  I  requested.  They  are  very  cre- 
ditable to  his  zeal  and  activity,  and  with  what  I  pre- 
viously knew  of  the  matter,  will  make  one  of  the  most 
interesting  pages  in  my  history.  *'  He  shall  ask  you," 
he  says,  "to  let  him  peruse  the  first  volume  imme- 
diately, because  he  expects,  in  a  few  weeks,  to  see 
General  Foy,  who  has  the  same  task  in  hand."  Let 
him  see  the  sheets  if  he  wishes  it.  He  may  like  to  say 
to  General  Foy  that  he  has  seen  them  ;  and  if  he  looks 
over  them,  the  mere  act  of  turning  over  the  leaves  will 
show  him  the  scale  and  character  of  the  work.  I  send 
my  note  unsealed,  that  you  may  see  what  I  have  said 
to  him  upon  this  subject. 

Are  you  the  better  for  the  sea  breezes  ?  I  have  been 
passing  a  week  at  liowther,  and  having  lamed  myself 
the  first  day  by  an  unaccountable  quarrel  between  my 
boot  and  one  of  my  toes,  had  good  excuse  for  working 
every  morning  afterwards  among  old  books,  of  which 
there  are  there  good  store.  It  is  a  pleasant  house  of 
its  kind  to  inhabit  for  a  few  days.  The  servants  {mira- 
bile  dictu  !)  are  perectly  attentive  to  all  the  guests ;  and 
my  acquaintance  with  the  family  is  now  of  sufficient 
standing  to  make  me  quite  at  case  there.  Lord  L. 
has  for  some  years  supplied  me  literally  with  game  and 
venison  ;  and  now  he  has  done  me  the  greater  service 
of  giving  me  free  and  full  use  of  his  library,  which,  at 
this  distance  from  all  public  collections,  is  a  great 
assistance. 

I  am  sorry  that  my  chance  for  a  ctistle  in  Bohemia 
is  lost.     There  came  to  u)c,  the  other  day,  a  letter  from 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  277 

some  Mr.  Samuel  Simpson,  of  Liverpool,  requesting  a 
few  lines  in  my  handwriting,  "  to  fill  one  vacancy  in 
his  collection  of  autographs,  without  which  liis  series 
must  ever  remain  most  incomplete."  I  answered  as 
follows  :  — 

Inasmuch  as  you.  Sam.  a  descendant  of  Sim, 
For  collecting  handwritings,  have  taken  a  whim, 
And  to  me,  Robert  Southey,  petition  have  made, 
In  a  civil  and  nicely  penn'd  letter,  post-paid, 
That  I  to  your  album  so  gracious  would  be. 
As  to  fiU  up  a  page  there  appointed  for  me, 
Five  couplets  I  send  you,  by  aid  of  the  Nine  — 
They  will  cost  you,  in  postage,  a  penny  a  line. 
At  Keswick,  October  the  sixth,  they  were  done. 
One  thousand,  eight  hundred,  and  twenty,  and  one. 


God  bless  you. 


R.  S. 


P.S.  The  name  of  the  newly  discovered  language 
(of  which  I  have  more  to  say  hereafter)  is  the  lingo 
grande. 

Mackenzie  merely  dates  from  London.  I  know  not, 
therefore,  where  to  direct  the  enclosed  note. 


To  The  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  Oct.  23.  1821. 

In  looking  at  "  Warburton"  to  make  a  few  memo- 
randa before  it  should  be  packed  up,  I  saw  so  much 
which  will  be  useful  to  me  ere  long,  and  which  I  should 

T  3 


278  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

feel  the  want  of  if  it  were  not  at  hand,  that  I  even  re- 
placed it  on  the  shelf  for  the  present.  I  have  sent  off 
a  parcel  of  duplicates,  American  and  others,  by  waggon  ; 
they  are  worth  the  carriage  ;  and  in  "  Abel's  Travels  " 
is  a  picture  of  an  ourang-outang,  which  may  amuse 
Alfred  and  Georgiana,  and  my  namesake,  if  it  does  not 
frighten  them. 

You  will  soon  receive  the  revised  volume  of  "  Brazil." 
Pope  is  now  in  the  last  chapter.  The  additional  matter 
adds  nearly  100  pages  to  its  bulk,  and  in  full  proportion 
to  its  value.  I  have  bestowed  upon  it  as  much  labour 
as  would  have  brought  me  full  200/.  had  it  been  other- 
wise directed  :  for  this  I  shall  never  receive  as  many 
pence.  But  it  has  been  willingly  and  well  bestowed, 
and  the  worth  of  the  book  will  one  day  be  known. 
Humboldt  refers  often  to  it  in  his  last  volume,  and  savs 
that  he  finds  its  geographical  statements  very  correct, 
though  I  think  he  had  only  seen  my  first  volume  v.'hen 
he  wrote.  He  forms  the  same  conclusion  as  I  had  done 
respecting  the  Amazons;  and  it  is  also  pleasant  to  find 
that  the  notion  which  he  advanced  of  Affuirres'  havinjr 
got  to  the  sea  by  some  other  course  than  that  of  keep- 
ing the  stream  of  the  Orellana  (which  I  thouglit  un- 
founded and  untenable)  has  been  given  up  by  him  upon 
reconsidering  the  subject. 

Sir  Charles  Stuart's  book  is  in  the  parcel.  I  never 
had  any  other  from  him.  I  have  the  Villa- Vicosa  part, 
which  is  very  curious.  Indeed  the  book  is  altogether 
so  original  and  entertaining,  that  I  should  be  very  glad 
to  possess  it. 

I  was  at  Lowther  lately  for  six  days  ;  and  bad  weather 
during  the  whole  time  enabled  me  to  make  good  use  of 
long  mornings  among  old  books.  There  is  a  most  ex- 
tensive collection  there  of  tracts  belonging  to  the  ajje 
of  Charles  I.  and  Oliver  Cromwelh  It  is  a  magnificent 
place,  and  I  know  enough  of  the  family,  and  like  them 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  279 

well  enough  to  be  quite  at  ease  there.  The  Duchess 
of  Marlborough  was  there  part  of  the  time ;  and  I  was 
detained  beyond  the  time  predetermined  for  my  stay- 
to  meet  the  Dean  of  Carlisle,  a  much  less  agreeable  man 
than  his  predecessor. 

My  campaign  is  now  fairly  begun.  Wordsworth  and 
his  wife  will  interrupt  it  to-morrow,  for  a  few  days, 
after  which  I  see  a  long  course  of  work  before  me. 
424  pages  of  the  "  Peninsular  War,"  are  printed.  I 
am  busy  upon  a  Portuguese  chapter,  on  the  events 
prior  to  Sir  A.  Wellesley's  landing.  It  was  necessary 
to  wait  for  a  French  book  by  General  Thiebault,  which 
Murray's  people  neglected  to  send  me  in  time.  The 
first  volume  will  not  get  farther  than  the  embarkation 
from  Corunna,  that  year  containing  more  matter  for 
detail  than  any  other  two  during  the  struggle.  Lord 
Frederick  Bentinck  (who  married  Lady  Mary  Lowther) 
ofFtred  me  assistance  from  his  brother,  and  from  Lord 
Hill.  I  do  not  know  whether  Murray  intends  to  publish 
the  first  volume  as  soon  as  it  is  ready,  or  to  wait  till  the 
work  is  completed ;  most  probably  the  former  will  be 
his  plan. 

Philip  Hewctt  departed  last  week.  He  was  upon  as 
intimate  a  footing  here  as  he  could  desire,  and  took 
his  leave  with  regret.  The  unfixvourable  weather  pi'e- 
vented  sundry  excursions  which  had  been  planned  with 
him.  Another  Philip  was  with  him,  who  proved  to  be 
nephew  to  Waterhouse's  brother-in-law  Prothcroe,  the 
late  member  for  Bristol. 

It  is  a  long  while  since  I  heard  either  from  you  or 
Henry.  Indeed  I  should  not  have  known  of  poor 
Burn's  departure,  if  John  May  had  not  mentioned  it. 

Senhouse  and  I  talk  of  a  journey  to  Holland  in  May 
and  June  next.  If  it  be  effected,  I  must  make  Brussels 
in  the  way,  for  the  sake  of  Van  Beest  the  bookseller. 
We   talk  of   reaching   Muiistcr,    viisiting    Worms    and 

T  4 


280  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

Spires,  and  taking  Nancy  and  Rheims  in  the  way  back. 
Though  I  can  neither  conveniently  afford  the  time  or 
the  cost,  yet  an  excursion  of  this  kind  has  such  an 
effect  upon  a  constitution  which  stands  in  need  of 
bracing  from  time  to  time,  that  I  shall  most  likely 
determine  upon  it.  A  journey  of  six  weeks  or  two 
months  every  year  would  be  of  essential  benefit  to  me, 
if  I  could  afford  to  take  it ;  but  the  works  which  I 
have  in  progress  will  square  my  next  year's  accounts 
well.  What  a  blessing  it  is  to  possess  a  cheerful  and 
hopeful  temper!  I  would  not  exchange  it  for  the 
largest  estate  in  all  England. 

Wynn  is  likely  to  be  in  office  as  soon  as  any  station 
high  enough  for  him  can  be  opened.  I  hear  tliis,  not 
from  himself,  but  from  Lord  Lonsdale.  Lord  Granvillej 
refusing  office  for  himself,  has  asked  it  for  W.  Fre- 
mantle  and  Frankland  Lewis.  The  latter  has  an 
appointment.  The  only  difficulty  concerning  Wynn 
is  to  find  a  place  which  gives  him  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet. 
This  I  sliall  be  very  glad  of  for  his  own  sake.  Ho  has 
a  large  family,  and  his  fortune  is  not  equal  to  his  rank 
in  life  The  good  which  I  can  look  to  for  myself  is 
the  bare  possibility  of  getting  something  for  Tom. 

Love  to  my  aunt  and  the  children.     Go-l  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Nov.  5.  1821. 

My  pear  Wynn, 

Lord  Frederick  Bentinck,  whom  I  met  at 
Lowther,  proffered  his  services  in  obtaining  materials 
for  me  from  Lord  Hill  and  from  his  brother.  I  have 
a  letter  from  him  to-day.  Lord  William  Bentinck 
will  supply  all  the  information  and  documents  in  his 
power:  but  Lord  Hill  doubts  whether    he  should   be 


1821. 


ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  281 


jastificd  in  so  doing,  as  he  acted  the  whole  time  in  a 
subordinate  capacity.  I  suppose  this  is  rather  an  ex- 
cuse *  tlian  a  reason ;  perhaps  he  is  afraid  I  might  make 
some  indiscreet  use  of  his  name. 

The  time  will  come  when  works  of  this  kind  will  be 
written  with  the  direct  sanction  and  aid  of  government, 
as  voyages  of  discovery  are  now.    For  myself,  I  am  glad 
that  time  is  not  come  yet,  as,  unquestionably,  I  can  write 
with  much  more  freedom.      But  a  notion  has  got  abroad 
that  something  like  this  is  the  case.     An   Italian  wrote 
to  offer  me  a  manuscript  memorial  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Peace,  in  vindication  of  himself,  as  an  important  docu- 
ment   for    my  history  —  modestly  asking    200  guineas 
for  it.     A  son  of  Scarlett's  forwarded  the  proposal  to 
me ;  and  upon  my  expressing   to  him,    in    reply,    my 
sense  of  its  folly  and  extravagance,  young  Scarlett  said 
that  he,  as  well  as  his  friend  the  Signor,  took  it  for 
granted  government  would  be  at  the  whole  expense  of 
such  a  work.     The  only  thing  I  ever  wished  to  ask  of 
government,  if  there  had  been  a  likelihood  of  obtaining 
it,  was  a  set  of  their  printed  Records,  which  I  cannot 
afford  to  buy,  and  which  I  shall  want  for  use.     It  was 
to  you  that  I   applied  to  know  if  the  thing  were  fea- 
sible, without  the  least  suspicion  that  you  were  any  way 
concerned.     The  answer  is   a   good  specimen  of  what 
Gjovernment  can  do  to  assist  an  historian  in  his  studies. 

I  have  printed  421  pages  of  my  first  volume;  and  it 
will  be  ready  early  in  the  spring.  If  the  booksellers 
pubhsh  it  before  the  whole  is  ready  (which  I  suppose 
they  will).  Lord  Hill  will  see  whether  the  book  is  of 
such  a  character  as  that  he  would  wish  it  to  be  as  cor- 

*  I  rather  ibink  not.  Those  who  knew  Lord  Hill  and  the  great 
simplicity  of  his  character  will  acquiesce  in  his  own  reason.  The 
poor  of  the  parish  in  which  he  lived  and  died  had  always  reason 
to  bless  his  name.  I  bear  this  testimony  to  his  memory  as  a 
Shropshire  man. 


282  LETTERS   OF 


1821. 


rcct  as  possible  in  those  parts  wherein  he  is  concerned. 
It  is  not  of  much  consequence ;  for  what  was  actually 
done,  of  course  I  know;  and  in  reality  I  have  docu- 
ments in  such  abundance  that  any  additional  ones  will 
be  of  more  trouble  than  real  utility.  It  would  be  a 
matter  of  duty  with  me  to  examine  all ;  and  the  addi- 
tional information  which  I  could  now  give  could  not  by 
possibility  be  worth  a  tithe  of  the  time  which  it  would 
cost.  You  will  easily  understand  this.  I  have  a  dan- 
gerous love  of  detail,  and  a  desire  of  accuracy,  which  is 
much  more  expensive  (both  in  materials  and  time)  than 
I  ought  to  afford. 

My  mornings  at  Lowther  were  spent  among  the 
books  —  chiefly  with  tracts  of  Charles  the  First's  age. 
There  I  found  the  "  Directory,"  which  I  remember  you 
told  me  once  you  had  never  seen,  and  which  I  had  long- 
looked  for.  It  is,  as  the  title  imi^orts,  a  mere  directory 
—  telling  the  preacher  when  he  is  to  read,  when  to 
expound,  when  to  pray,  and  when  to  preach,  but  setting- 
down  no  form  of  words,  leaving  that  to  his  discretion ; 
just  as  old  Italian  comedians  had  the  story  of  their 
drama  given  them,  and  were  left  to  supply  the  dialogues 
themselves.  I  found  a  great  deal  in  this  great  collection 
of  pamphlets  which  one  might  look  for  in  vain  in  Rush- 
worth  or  Whitclock. 

Murray  will  publish  a  collection  of  our  "  Historical 
Memoirs."  You  must  talk  to  him  about  it.  It  should 
contain  every  thing  wliich  the  intended  "Corpus"  does 
not ;  a  point  upon  which  I  can  give  him  no  informa- 
tion. 

Barrow  makes  a  great  mistake  in  tlie  "  Q.  R.,"  and 
upon  a  subject  with  which  he  ought  to  be  well  ac- 
quainted. 'I"he  country  between  our  possessions  in 
South  Africa  and  the  Portuguese,  is  not  fertile  as  he 
represents  it  (except  in  one  part)  ;  and  there  are  ac- 
counts enough  of  it  in  the  history  of  Portuguese  ship- 


1821. 


ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  283 


wrecks,  Avliich  I  wonder  he  should  not  have  known. 
Tbe  number  is,  I  think,  a  bad  one.  There  is  a  sermon 
of  Slillingileet's  which  might  have  been  used  with  great 
advantage  in  the  paper  upon  Hone's  wicked  publication. 
The  last  article  is  ill-designed,  and  clumsily  executed. 
Hunt's  "  Tasso  "  is  reviewed  by  one  of  his  friends  ;  — 
ergo,  the  papers  upon  Italian  literature  in  that  Re- 
view have  all  been  empty  and  superficial. 

Thus  far  I  had  written  when  your  letter  arrived. 
For  the  first  time,  Gilford  has  printed  a  paper  of  mine 
without  mutilation,  and  I  am  responsible  for  it  as  it 
stands,  with  a  single  exception,  not  unworthy  of  no- 
tice. I  had  said  that  Hampden  might  have  left  behind 
him  a  name  scarcely  inferior  to  Washington ;  and  he  has 
most  absurdly  altered  this  to  a  memorable  name  !  as  \i 
the  name  were  not  sufficiently  memorable. 

I  am  very  much  pleased  with  your  remarks.  The 
scale  upon  which  I  wrote  precluded  detail.  I  had  to 
deal  in  results  and  general  views,  and  meant  all  that  the 
words  imply,  in  saying  that,  till  the  meeting  of  the  Long 
Parliament,  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  party  be- 
haved worse,  and  afforded  most  provocation  and  excuse 
to  the  other ;  yet  it  is  so  likely  that  others  should  im- 
pute to  want  of  candour  what  is  solely  owing  to  want  of 
space,  that  I  am  very  much  inclined  to  extend  the  paper, 
as  1  did  with  the  "  Life  of  Nelson." 

I  will  tell  you  what  part  you  would  have  taken,  had 
you  lived  in  those  days.  You  would  have  acted  with 
the  Parliament  to  a  certain  point,  as  Falkland  did;  you 
would  then  have  transferred  your  weight  to  the  sinking- 
scale,  and  died,  as  he  did,  honourably  and  wiUinghj  in 
the  king's  service. 

About  Laud  I  cannot  altogether  agree  with  you.  Plis 
foresight  must  be  admitted  as  some  cause  for  his  se- 
verity ;  for  the  end  and  aim  of  the  Puritans  was  clearly 
foreseen  af  early  as  in  Parker's  time.     The  temper  and 


284  LETTERS   OF  1821. 

manners  of  tlie  age  take  off  much  of  the  individual  guilt 
in  acts  of  cruelty.  When  he  cut  off  ears,  the  Parlia- 
ment bored  tongues  ;  and  in  his  case,  head  and  all  were 
taken.  The  charge  of  Popery  excited  most  hatred 
against  him  ;  and  that  was  infamously  false.  And  for  all 
that  he  would  have  done  in  counteracting  Calvinism,  and 
restoring  the  beauty  of  public  worship  (which  was 
also  a  prominent  ciiarge  against  him),  he  was  in  my 
judgment  eminently  meritorious.  I  found  at  Lowther 
a  pamphlet  of  Burton's  concerning  Laud's  execution  ; 
the  spirit  of  it  was  truly  devilish. 

The  "  Pari.  History  "  is  a  book  which  I  must  buy 
whenever  I  can  afford  it  —  if  that  should  ever  be  the 
case.  There  are  parts  of  our  history  upon  which  I  am 
very  imperfectly  informed  for  want  of  it.  But  this  is 
not  the  case  with  Charles's  reign,  upon  which  I  have 
read  largely  and  carefully.  The  only  character  of  those 
times  upon  which  I  can  form  no  opinion,  is  Williams, 
the  Lord  Keeper  and  Archbishop.  What  is  your 
opinion  of  him  ?  How  I  should  like  to  talk,  over  these 
things  with  you  again,  as  in  old  times !     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

P.S.  I  have  lately  proposed  to  Wordsworth  that 
we  should  institute  a  society  for  the  suppression  of 
albums. 


To  John  Rickman,  Esq.,  Sfc. 

Keswick,  Nov  9.  1821. 

My  dear.  R., 

I  am  glad  you  are  pleased  with  the  view  which 
I  have  taken  of  Cromwell's  *  history.     Tlie  subject  has 

*  "  I  have  been  much  cdlficd  by  reading  your  '  Croniwell '  In  the 
'  Quarterly  Heview.'     I  even  allow  that  the   '  Peninsular  War ' 


1S21.  llOBEliT    SOUTHEY.  285 

interested  me  so  much  (especially  since  I  fell  in  at 
Lowther  with  a  large  collection  of  tracts  of  that  age) 
that  it  will  be  Murray-Ie-magne's  fault  if  I  do  not  take 
it  upon  a  larger  scale,  and  expand  it  into  two  such 
volumes  as  the  "  Life  of  Nelson." 

Rushworth,  with  all  that  affectation  of  liberality 
which  the  anti-Churchman  shows  in  prating  about 
"  the  Bible  without  comment,"  is  a  thorough  party- 
compiler —  very  careful  as  to  wliat  he  supposes,  and 
careful  in  nothing  else.  There  are  several  speeches  and 
papers,  which  he  prints  two  or  three  times  over.  It  is 
a  great  pity  that  Nalson's  collections  (which  were  un- 
dertaken to  counteract  the  insidious  tendency  of  his  ex 
parte  statements)  were  not  complete.  Nalson  quotes  from 
some  IMemoirs  by  Manchester,  which  I  think  have  never 
been  published,  and  ought  to  be  brought  to  light. 
There  are  some  Memoirs  of  those  times  by  Lady  Fati- 
shaw  (wife  of  Sir  Richard)  in  the  possession  of  her 
family.  Seward  published  some  specimens  in  iiis 
"  Anecdotes  ;  "  and  if  the  possessors  should  be  in  town 
when  next  I  visit  it,  I  can  obtain  sight  of  the  MS. 

The  "Peninsular  War"  has  not  been  dormant  the 
while  :  fifty-three  sheets  are  printed.  I  am  now  drawing 
to  the  close  of  the  longest,  and  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing, chapters  in  the  volume,  relating  the  events  in  Por- 
tugal from  the  commencement  of  the  insurrection  in 
Spain  till  Sir  A.  Wellesley's  landing.  The  volume 
will  end  with  our  embarkation  from  Corunna,  the  first 
year  of  the  war  occupying  necessarily  more  narration 

ought  notto  grumble  at  such  remora.  When  I  was  young,  no  book 
was  more  in  my  hand  than  '  Kushworth ; '  so  I  became  learned  in 
the  history  of  his  time,  and  am  agreeably  surprised  to  perceive 
that  you  know  more  about  it  than  I  do.  I  am  obliged  to  you  for 
settling  the  question  of  the  Ei/cu»'  BaaiKiKv,,  and  shall  buy  the  book 
forthwith.  I  was  such  an  Olivcrian  in  my  time  at  Oxford,  as  lo 
have  obtained  the  cognomen  of  old  'Nol ;'  but  I  believe  half  my 
zeal  was  feigned,  to  teaze  certain  Royalists." — J.  R.,  MS.  Letter. 


286  LETTERS   OP  1821. 

than  any  other  two.  Erere's  absence  from  England  is 
an  evil  to  me  :  I  should  have  profited  more  by  corre- 
spondence with  him  than  from  heaps  of  papers.  The 
volume  will  certainly  be  ready  early  in  the  spring,  un- 
less any  illness  should  arrest  my  hand. 

You  will  receive  a  copy  of  DobrizhofFer  by  desire  of 
the  translator,  who  (be  it  known  to  you  under  the  rose) 
is  Miss  Sara  Coleridge  —  an  extraordinary  proof  of  in- 
dustry and  self-acquired  attainments.  The  history  of 
this  publication  is  curious.  I  projected  it  for  Derwent, 
while  he  was  spending  two  years  as  tutor  in  a  private 
family  as  a  means  of  facilitating  his  way  through  the 
University.  His  sister  offered  to  assist  him.  He  soon 
grew  tired  of  the  task  (the  little  which  he  did,  indeed, 
was  not  so  accurate  as  hers,  and  far  inferior  in  grace 
and  easiness  of  diction)  ;  and  this  indefatigable  girl 
went  through  with  it.  I  am  now  about  to  review  it,  in 
such  a  way,  I  hope,  as  may  make  the  sale  remunerate 
her. 

I  think  it  is  in  Rushworth  where  1  find  that  it  was 
declared  to  be  law  in  Elizabeth's  reign  that  a  slave 
could  not  exist  in  England.  But  I  am  now  making  my 
notes  from  Rushworth,  having  borrowed  a  set  from 
Lowther.  In  books  of  English  history,  my  library  is 
sadly  deficient,  the  great  collection  being  beyond  my 
reach.  1  have  particularly  felt  the  want  of  the  "  Parlia- 
mentary History."  Mr.  Phillips's  red  books  bear  tes- 
timony to  the  use  I  have  made  of  accessible  ma- 
terials ;  and,  by  God's  blessing,  1  shall  do  good  service 
hereafter  as  an  iconoclast  in  the  temples  of  Whig 
idolatry. 

Now  I  return  to  Portugal.      God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


1821.  FtOBERT    SOUTIIEY.  287 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  Dec.  8.  1821. 

I  WAS  vexed  at  discovering  that  Landor's  book  had 
heen  overlooked  when  the  parcel  was  made  up.  If, 
however,  there  be  in  this  place  paper  large  enough  for 
such  an  enclosure,  T  will  frank  it  with  my  next  dis- 
patches to  Gifford,  in  the  course  of  a  week ;  and  he  will 
consign  it  to  Bedford's  care. 

Two  or  three  days  ago  I  received  a  rich  present  from 
Landor, —  threescore  volumes,  of  all  sorts  and  kinds, 
none  that  are  without  value,  and  some  that  are  of  con- 
siderable worth.  The  only  one  connected  with  Portugal 
is  "  Osorius  de  Nohilitate"  1542,  printed  at  Lisbon. 
There  is  the  *'  Speculum  Historicale  Vincentii  Beloa- 
censis,'^  1494.  A  folio  Terence,  printed  at  Milan,  with- 
out a  date,  not  1  think  later  than  1500  ;  a  Milan  Sallust, 
1501;  "  Laurentii  VaUensis  Opus  Elegantiarum  Lin- 
(juce  Lat.'''  1487  —  all  folios;  a  great  many  volumes  of 
Italian  poetry  and  modern  Latin.  One  volume  of 
poems  in  the  Genoese,  and  another  in  the  Neapolitan 
or  Sicilian  dialect,  I  know  not  which  ;  and  an  account  of 
the  sacking  of  Rome  in  1527,  by  Jacopo  Buonaparte, 
who  was  present,  first  printed  in  1756  at  Lucca,"  with 
the  false  date  of  Cologne,  and  suppressed  by  the  Aus- 
trian influence,  so  that  very  few  copies  are  extant.  It 
is  a  long  while  since  I  have  had  so  miscellaneous  a 
cargo  of  varieties. 

So  the  poor  old  Admiral  never  lived  to  receive  his 
Admiral's  pay.  I  am  reading  Kotzebue's  Voyage ; 
and  the  thought  often  occurs  that  no  man  in  this  coun- 
try will  feel  so  much  interest  in  it  as  he  would  have 
done.  About  the  same  time  I  lost  my  friend  at  Lud- 
low, Wade  Brown,  an  excellent  man,   for   whon)  I  had 


288  LETTERS   or  1821 

a  great  regard,  and  in  whose  house  I  always  found  a 
joyful  welcome. 

Knox  must  be  the  best  judge  of  what  is  advisable  for 
Edward.  The  Greek  examination  for  college  is  ex- 
clusively in  the  epigrams. 

That  monkey  is  a  great  favourite  with  Cuthbert,  who 
looks  at  it  every  night  on  his  way  to  bed,  and  says  it  is 
very  uggy  ;  and  he  tells  me  that  when  I  am  shaving  I 
am  almost  as  uggy  as  that  monkey. 

The  reprint  of  "  Brazil"  will  be  finished  immediately. 
I  have  only  to  receive  the  table  of  contents  and  preface, 
which  I  expect  every  day.  Heber  has  helped  me  to 
some  materials  for  improving  the  second  volume  ;  he 
lias  given  me  one  volume  of  the  "  Paraguay  Annual 
Letters,"  and  lent  me  another,  and  Montoya's  •'  Con- 
questa  Espiritual."  I  also  purchased  at  Edinburgh, 
when  I  was  there  with  Rickman,  that  volume  concern- 
ing Madagascar  and  Brazil,  a  copy  of  which  once  passed 
through  your  hands  at  Lisbon.  l"he  part  i-elating  to 
Brazil  is  a  history  of  the  recovery  of  Pernambuco  by 
Pierre  Moreau,  an  adventurer  in  the  Dutch  service. 
But  there  is  a  separate,  and  perhaps  an  enlarged,  edi- 
tion of  this,  which  I  saw  in  Buonaparte's  libraiy  at 
Fontainebleau  —  unless  it  were  the  same  book  sepa- 
rated from  the  Madagascar  part. 

You  may  have  lieard  of  a  history  of  Brazil  by  James 
Henderson.  He  has  thought  proper  to  send  me  the 
book.  It  is  an  account,  and  not  a  history,  of  the  coun- 
try, made  up  almost  wholly  from  Cazal  and  the  papers 
in  the  "  Patriotic,"  with  what  little  information  he 
j)icked  up  in  the  country  during  a  short  stay  there.  The 
prints  are  ill  drawn,  and  worse  executed  upon  stone. 
He  is  a  man  of  this  country,  without  any  education. 
The  book  however  is  creditable  to  his  industry,  and  not 
discreditable  in  any  point  of  view.  Luckcock's  book  has 
a  great  deal  of  interesting  matter  in  it.      I  shall  perhaps 


1821.  EOBEllT  SOUTHEY.  289 

make  it  the  subject  of  a  paper  in  the  "  Quarterly  Re- 
view." At  present  I  am  finishing  a  reviewal  of  Dobriz- 
hoffer.  My  next  subject  is  to  be  Adamson's  *'  Life  of 
Canioens." 

The  French  are  in  good  time  supplying  materials  for 
my  "  History  of  the  War."  There  is  an  account  of 
Soult's  campaigns  in  Portugal,  recently  published,  —  as 
rascally  a  one  as  could  be  desired ;  and  one  of  a  very 
different  description  by  Marshal  Gouvion  St.  Cyr,  con- 
cerning his  own  campaign  in  Catalonia. 

Marquis  Wellesley  is  a  fit  man  to  civilise  the  Irish, 
if  the  ministry  here  could  be  relied  upon  to  support 
him.  I  have  been  reading  Spencer's  "Dialogue  on  the 
State  of  Ireland"  this  morning;  and  the  country  stands 
as  much  in  need  of  Roman  civilisation  now  as  it  did  in 
his  days.  Such  a  people  must  be  under  military  law, 
or  a  permanent  armed  police,  till  they  are  fit  for 
anything. 

I  have  to  perform  the  disagreeable  task  of  writing  a 
new  year's  ode,  which  must  be  about  that  miserable 
country.  If  that  subject  had  not  occurred,  I  meant  to 
have  written  one  which  would  have  saved  me  the  trouble 
of  ever  writing  another  till  that  was  called  for.  This  I 
did  with  the  birthday. 

My  odes  for  the  last  two  years  are  better  than  any- 
thing that  I  ever  expected  to  write  in  that  form.  On 
the  present  occasion  I  go  to  the  task  with  an  ill  will, 
and  with  no  anticipation  of  doing  anything  well.  Love 
to  my  aunt  and  the  children.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


VOL.  III.  U 


290  LETTERS    OF  1821. 

To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  31.  P. 

Keswick,  Dec.  16.  1821. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  am  exceedingly  glad  to  hear  of  your  alliance 
with  Mrs.  Company.  It  has  indeed  very  long  been  my 
wish  to  see  you  in  office,  because  no  man  is  more  fit  for 
it ;  and  you  have  always  had  few  principles  and  fewer 
feelings  in  common  with  opposition.  When  I  heard 
the  likelihood  of  your  coming  in  some  months  ago,  I 
had  supposed  that  you  would  probably  be  placed  at  the 
head  of  your  old  department,  in  which  case  your  name 
would  soon  have  been  inserted  above  mine  in  Cobbett's 
proscription  list.  You  have  a  situation  subject  to  none 
of  the  same  difficulties  and  invidiousness  as  that ;  and 
the  voluminous  documents  with  which  you  must  become 
acquainted  will  not  be  so  appalling  or  irksome  to  you 
as  they  would  be  to  most  persons. 

But  I  am  sorry  to  lose  the  intended  "  Cromwelliana." 
However,  I  shall  hope  for  them  hereafter,  and  in  the 
most  serviceable  manner  ;  that  is,  in  the  way  of  com- 
ment, before  the  book  goes  to  press,  or  while  it  is  on 
its  way  through  it.  In  my  odds  and  ends  of  time,  I 
am  laying  in  stores,  with  the  full  purpose  of  treating 
the  subject  at  length,  and  doing  it  all  the  justice  that 
can  be  done  by  unweariable  diligence,  and  the  sincere 
desire  of  representing  both  men  and  actions  in  their 
true  colours. 

I  believe  I  can  obtain  access  to  Lady  Fanshaw's 
"  Memoirs."  I  wish  I  could  to  those  of  (not  by)  the 
Countess  of  Pembroke  ;  but  they  are  in  Lord  Tiianet's 
possession,  and  therefore  not  very  likely  to  be  accessible 
to  me.  Manchester  left  memoirs  which  are  quoted  by 
Nalson.  If  they  have  not  been  printed  (and  I  think 
they  have  not,  or  I  should  have  seen  some  notice  of 


1821.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  291 

tliem),   in    whose    possession    are    they  likely    to    he  ? 
They  would  be  very  important. 

Rushworth  is  very  imperfect,  and  exemplifies  the  sin 
of  omission  in  perfection;  being,  by  means  of  that 
single  act,  while  he  professes  impartiality,  one  of  the 
most  partial  of  compilers.  There  were  great  men  in 
those  days.  I  have  been  very  much  interested  in  one 
who  was  not  a  great  man  —  but  a  very  eloquent  one  — 
Sir  Edward  Deering.  I  found  the  collection  of  his 
speeches  at  Lowther,  for  publishing  which  he  was  so 
tyrannically  treated.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Richman,  Esq.,  S^c. 

Keswick,  Dec.  19.  1821, 

I  HAVE  just  got  through  Strada's  ''Decades,"  and 
learnt  a  great  deal  from  them.  There  are  few  books 
which  a  military  man  might  study  with  more  ad- 
vantage. 

The  foundation  of  two  evils  was  laid  in  these  Dutch 
wars — French  preponderance,  and  English  republican- 
ism ;  Puritanism  also  owes,  in  great  measure,  its  growth 
to  them. 

The  Prince  of  Parma  (a  man  of  consummate  military 
genius)  was  the  first  general  who  perceived  the  ad- 
vantage of  religious  discipline  in  an  army.  I  think 
Gustavus  imitated  him  in  this  point,  and  Cromwell 
Gustavus. 

The  poverty  of  the  Spanish  Government,  when  most 
flourishing,  has  surprised  me.  They  might  again  and 
again  have  recovered  the  whole  of  the  Low  Countries 

V  2 


292  LETTEES   OF  1821. 

if  they  had  employed  a  little  larger  force,  or  kept  the 
force  which  they  did  employ  in  good  order  and  good 
humour,  by  paying  them  regularly. 

There  are  several  cases  parallel  to  what  happened  to 
us  at  Bergen  op  Zoom,  where,  in  spite  of  fortifications, 
the  town  was  surprised,  and  the  assailants,  after  having 
overcome  all  the  miHtary  difficulties,  were  drawn  out 
by  a  window-and-street  resistance. 

I  am  now  going  to  look  through  Aitzema,  a  Dutch 
liistorian,  whose  work  includes  the  history  of  Europe, 
and  of  all  other  parts  of  the  world  with  which  the 
powers  of  Europe  had  any  intercourse  at  that  time, — 
from  1620  to  the  first  year  of  William  III.  It  consists 
of  eleven  folios,  each  containing  as  much  as  three  of 
Rushworth's  volumes ;  abounding,  like  his,  in  state 
papers,  but  connecting  them  by  a  full  and  regular  nar- 
rative ;  and,  in  point  of  merit,  about  half  way  between 
Rushworth  and  Thuanus — as  much  above  the  former  as 
below  the  latter.  Here  I  shall  find  a  great  deal 
concerning  Cromwell's  times. 

We  are  living  in  perpetual  storms.  I  think  we  have 
not  had  two  days  together  of  calm  weather  since  August. 
The  thermometer  is  hardly  below  the  temperate  point, 
and  the  pansies,  polyanthus',  and  primroses  are  in 
blossom.  So  much  rain  has  never,  in  my  memory, 
fallen  within  the  same  course  of  time.  Yesterday  we 
had  a  long  thunderstorm,  and  a  great  deal  of  hail. 

We  are  going  on  well.  My  eldest  daughter  makes 
such  good  progress  in  drawing,  that  she  will  make  an 
excellent  fellow-traveller  in  that  respect.  Bertha  reads 
Ovid  with  me.  The  younger  ones  come  forward  as 
could  be  wished,  and  Cuthbert  thrives  to  my  heart's 
content.     Remember  us  to  Mrs.  R.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  293 


To  John  Rickman,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jan.  C.  182a. 

My  dear  R., 

I  send  tills  inclosure  open,  that  you  may  see  in 
what  manner  I  have  dealt  with  Lord  Byron,  who  may 
now  properly  he  called  the  Avenger  of  Abel.  You 
have,  I  hope,  seen  his  attack.  If  he  returns  to  it,  I 
have  more  stones  from  the  brook,  and  my  aim  is  sure. 

There  are  works  of  his  come  over  for  publication 
which  are  so  bad  (even  after  Don  Juan),  that  Murray 
will  not  touch  them.  This  I  hear  from  Gilford.  If 
need  be,  I  shall  have  a  grand  opportunity  of  attacking 
the  rascally  press  in  his  person.  Many  new  years,  and 
happy  ones,  to  you  and  yours.     God  bless  you. 

li.  S. 

P.S.  This  will  follow  you,  I  suppose,  into  Sussex  ; 
but  time  is  of  no  consequence.  His  attack  has  been 
published  in  our  "  Broughamite  Papers."  They,  I 
suppose,  will  not  insert  my  reply  ;  but  I  will  take  care 
that  his  attack  shall  appear  in  the  opposite  paper  with 
it,  having  as  much  to  gain  by  bringing  them  together  as 
he  has  to  lose. 


To  the  Itev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  Jan.  25.  1822. 

I  KNOW  not  how  much  longer  the  first  volume  of 
"  Brazil "  is  to  remain  in  that  limbo  which  is  the  inter- 
mediate state  of  books  after  printing  and  before  publi- 
cation. Longman,  however,  is  instructed  to  send  you 
two  copies  as  soon  as  they  are  to  be  had.  You  will 
find  a  sood  deal  of  curious  additional  matter,  and  see 
that  my  time  was  not  misemployed  in  acquiring  know- 

u  3 


294  LETTERS    OP  1822. 

ledge  enough  of  Dutch  to  make  my  way  through  their 
liuge,  straightforward,  and  honest  historical  works. 

Frere  has  deputed  his  brother  Bartholomew  to  com- 
municate with  me  concerning  Spanish  affairs.  This 
was  done  just  in  time.  He  will  look  over  the  proofs 
to  see  if  I  need  correction,  or  further  information,  whicli 
it  may  be  in  his  power  to  bestow  ;  and  he  has  offered 
Whittingham's  services,  who  will  get  me  some  official 
papers  from  Madrid.  The  63rd  proof  is  now  on 
my  table.  The  two  first  proofs  of  the  "  Book  of  the 
Church  "  are  also  before  me.  This  is  a  work  which 
will  unquestionably  do  good.  Many  young  minds  will 
receive  from  it  a  right  bias  ;  and  it  will  bear  with  weight 
upon  the  Catholic  question  the  more  effectually,  be- 
cause it  is  not  in  a  controversial  form. 

William  Westall,  for  whom  I  have  a  great  regard, 
means  to  engrave  a  series  of  views  to  accompany  my 
*'  History  of  the  War."  I  have  sent  him  two  of  your 
sketches,  which  apply  to  the  first  volume — the  Puente 
del  Corzul,  and  the  Bridge  over  the  Ezlas,  with  Bene- 
vente  between  the  chalk  hills  ;  the  very  spot  where 
Bonaparte  was  in  danger  of  being  made  prisoner  by 
Lord  Castlereagh's  brother,  and  where  Lefebvre  Desnou- 
ettes  was  taken.  He  has  got  (through  Bedford)  some 
sketches  from  General  Hawker,  of  which  Maroao, 
Guarda,  and  Cintra,  will  do  for  the  first  series,  I  wish 
we  could  obtain  views  of  Lisbon  and  Madrid,  the  Es- 
curial,  Aranjuez,  Bayonne,  Cordova,  Jaen,  Zaragoza, 
Villa  Vi9osa,  Evora,  Beja,  Nazareth,  and  Leiria,  for 
that  volume.  That  which  you  sent  me  of  Madrid,  by 
Hawker,  disappeared  with  many  other  things,  while  I 
was  without  a  resting-place.     Have  you  a  copy  of  it? 

I  hear  from  various  quarters  that  my  reply  to  Lord 
Byron's  blackguardism  is  producing  the  effect  which  was 
intended  upon  others,  however  he  may  take  it.  I  have 
no  desire  to  pursue  the  matter  further,  but,  if  need  be. 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  295 

I  shall  have  no  great  reluctance  to  it ;  there  are  plenty 
of  smooth  stones  in  the  brook,  my  arm  is  in  good  order, 
and  I  am  sure  of  my  aim.  These  things  in  no  degree 
disturb  me.  I  see  some  strong  hand  at  Oxford  has 
taken  up  his  *'  Cain  "  (which  I  have  not  seen).  If  he 
compels  me  to  engage  with  him  again,  I  will  brand  him 
in  such  a  manner  as  will  exclude  him  from  all  society 
in  England  in  which  character  is  considered  to  be  a 
necessary  qualification.  The  truth  is,  he  is  desperate. 
He  has  (I  know)  sent  over  for  publication  things  more 
atrocious  than  any  which  have  yet  appeared,  and  such 
as  none  but  the  ames  dainties  of  the  trade  will  venture 
to  publish.  Murray  is  upon  a  bed  of  thorns  which  he 
has  made  for  himself. 

I    am   reviewing  a    "  Life  of  Camoens."     His    bio- 
graphers have  taken  very  little  brains  to  their  task. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Jan.  26.  1822. 

My  dear  G., 

I  wish  I  had  a  good  wager  depending  upon  your 
inability  to  guess  what  this  letter  contains.  It  is  in- 
tended to  inform  you  that  I  have  composed  eight  co- 
nundrums, upon  the  names  of  as  many  Greek  authors. 

1.  A  woman's  peculiarities. 

2.  Lady  Diana  highly  perfumed. 

3.  A  wandering  young  gentleman. 

4.  Lay  your  hand  upon  that  part  of  your  unutterable 
garment  where  the  flap  of  the  pocket  is,  and  ask  what 
part  is  this  ? 

5.  Anna  mv  wife. 

6.  What  happens  if,  when  you  are  looking  into  the 
glass,  I  look  in  it  too  ? 

u  4 


296  LETTERS   OP  1822. 

7.  What  a  pair  of  turtle  doves,  offered  for  sale, 
Avould  say  to  Miss  Page,  if  they  could  speak.  It  is 
not  every  woman  to  whom  they  would  say  it. 

8.  A  common  plaything  belonging  to  Henry  and  his 
brother. 

There,  Grosvenor,  considering  that  I  have  three  proof- 
sheets  of  "  Kirke  White  "  upon  the  table  (two  of  which 
are  unread),  and  three  of  my  own,  all  to  be  returned 
by  this  post,  and  to  write  one  note  to  Murray,  and 
another  to  GifFord,  you  will  admit  this  communication 
as  a  proof  that  any  man  can  find  time  to  play  the  fool 
when  he  has  a  mind  so  to  do. 

And  now  I  will  give  you  the  solutions,  which  you 
need  not  look  at  if  you  choose  to  try  your  hand  at  un- 
riddling-my-ree  first :  —  1.  Her  oddities.  2.  Di  odorous. 
3.  Stray  beau.  4.  Your  hip  it  is.  5.  My  Nan  dear. 
6.  I  see  us.     7.  Polly  buy  us.     8.  Harry  s  top  and  his. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

P.S.  Srd  Feb.  1822.  —  I  have  made  three  more 
conundrums.  Why  is  a  man  when  he  has  been  reading 
too  long  in  a  book  of  small  print,  like  one  of  the  Pa- 
triarchs ? 

'dJ/JV  sdfid  siq  asn^oag; 

Which  of  the  Roman  emperors  is  most  like  the 
beginning  of  an  Ode  ? 

Wiiy  may  the  letter  P  remind  us  of  one  of  the  worst 
of  men  ? 

•Q  JiDdu  aq  o;  pres  aq  iCeui  ;i  asnijaag; 

I  pray  you  admire  the  manner  in  which  I  have  placed 
the  solution,  so  that  you  need  not  read  it  unless  you 
wish. 

R.  S. 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  297 

To  Bernard  Barton^  Esq. 

Keswick,  Jan.  27.  1822. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  should  have  answered  your  letter  yesterday,  if 
it  had  not  found  me  with  six  proof-sheets  on  the  table, 
three  of  Kirke  White's,  and  three  of  my  own. 

Both  of  your  dedications  are  very  good, —  the  second 
very  beautiful,  though  a  little  hurt  by  the  alteration: 
the  alteration  however  is  advisable  ;  not  that  it  would 
give  offence,  but  that  it  is  right  to  avoid  any  thing  which 
might  maliciously  be  pointed  out  as  offensive.  The 
volume  cannot  be  presented  more  fitly  than  by  Sir 
Augustus  Frazer.  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  king 
will  be  gratified  by  it. 

I  was  much  pleased  with  the  poet's  lot, — no,  not 
with  his  lot ;  but  with  the  verses  in  which  he  describes 
it.  But,  let  me  ask  you,  are  you  not  pursuing  your 
studies  intemperately,  and  to  the  danger  of  your 
health  ?  To  be  writing  "  long  after  midnight,"  and 
"  with  a  miserable  headache,"  is  what  no  man  can  do 
with  impunity  ;  and  what  no  pressure  of  business,  no 
ardour  of  composition,  has  ever  made  me  do.  I  beseech 
you  remember  the  fate  of  Kirke  White ;  and  remember 
that  if  you  sacrifice  your  health  (not  to  say  your  life)  in 
the  same  manner,  you  will  be  held  up  in  your  own  com- 
munity as  a  warning, —  not  as  an  example  for  imita- 
tion. The  spirit  which  disturbed  poor  Scott  of  Am- 
well  in  his  last  illness  will  fasten  upon  your  name,  and 
your  fate  will  be  instanced  to  prove  the  inconsistency 
of  your  pursuits  with  that  sobriety  and  evenness  of 
mind  which  Quakerism  requires,  and  is  intended  to 
produce. 

You  will  take  this  as  it  is  meant,  I  am  sure. 

My  friend,  go  early  to  bed  ;  and  if  you  eat  snppors, 


298  LETTERS   OF 


1822. 


read  afterwards,  but  never  compose,  that  you  may  He 
down  with  a  quiet  intellect.      There  is  an  intellectual 
as  well  as  a  religious  peace  of  mind ;  and  without  the 
former  be  assured  there  can  be  no  health  for  a  poet. 
God  bless  you. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  John  RicTcman,  Esq. 


Feb.  1.  1822. 


My  dear  R., 

I  am  carrying  on  an  active  peninsular  corre- 
spondence with  Frere's  brother,  who  was  with  him  in 
Spain,  and  at  one  time  supplied  his  place  there.  It  is 
of  more  use  to  me  than  whole  packets  of  official  papers. 
By  asking  questions  concerning  men  and  things,  and 
setting  his  recollection  to  work,  I  get  at  those  master 
facts  by  which  difficulties  are  overlooked. 

The  new  system  in  the  public  offices  of  promoting 
men  by  merit,  and  not  according  to  seniority,  seems  to 
me  just  so  much  patronage  given  to  the  heads  of  those 
departments, — a  measure  sure  always  to  produce  a  feel- 
ing of  injustice,  and  in  most  cases,  no  doubt,  with  good 
reason.  The  principle  of  regular  succession  is  one 
which  satisfies  everybody  ;  they  know  what  they  have 
to  expect  when  they  enter  the  office,  and  go  on  con- 
tentedly. 

I  am  glad  for  his  own  sake  that  Wynn  is  in  office, 
but  I  do  not  anticipate  any  accession  of  strength  or 
popularity  to  the  Government  from  its  alliance  with 
the  Grenvilles.  Lord  Grenville  is  in  my  judgment  a 
l)ad  statesman,  who  has  been  wrong  upon  every  ques- 
tion of  importance,  except  concerning  the  Radicals. 


1822. 


ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  299 


A  Jacquerie  in  Ireland,  or  a  Patei'ie  as  it  may  be 
called,  will  be  near  enough  to  have  some  effect  as  a 
warning.  You  see  even  Lord  Donoughmore  cried  out 
for  strong  measures. 

This  cry  against  the  resumption  of  cash  payments  is 
a  good  specimen  of  our  speechifyers'  honesty.  Some 
few  months  ago  my  neighbour  Calvert  was  talking  upon 
this  subject  with  James  Brougham  (B.'s  brother),  and 
he  had  the  impudence  to  say  the  Whigs  knew  it  to  be 
a  mischievous  measure,  and  forced  it  upon  the  ministers 
for  that  reason.  I  believe  him  as  to  their  rascality,  but 
not  as  to  their  foresight.      God  bless  you. 

R.  S» 


To  the  Rigid  Hon.  C.  W.  W.  Wijnn,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Feb.  27.  1822. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

You  are  now  fairly  on  your  bed  of  roses,  and 
Welshmen  will  look  to  India  as  their  promised  land, 
even  as  Scotchmen  did  in  the  days  of  Dundas.  May 
Wales  be  as  largely  benefited  by  the  wealth  of  the 
East  as  Scotland  has  been,  and  may  you  live  as  long  as 
Lord  Melville,  remain  in  power  longer,  have  it  upon 
better  terms,  and  go  out  of  the  world  as  easily  at  last ! 

I  was  glad  to  see  that  Phillimore  "  partakes  the 
gale,"  and  should  have  been  glad  if  Strachey  also  had 
been  included,  if  he  has  any  inclination  for  public  life. 
But  probably  he  has  not.  It  was  not  fortunate  for 
him  that  his  interests  lay  in  India.  He  might  have  ac- 
quired an  independence  in  his  own  country  by  more 
congenial  pursuits  in  less  time,  and  have  obtained  that 
happiness  which  is  only  to  be  found  in  domestic  life. 

You  were  not  in  the  house  when  Mr.  Hume  made 
one   of  his   attacks  upon    you.     There    is    something 


300  LETTERS   OP  1822. 

ominous  as  well  as  disgraceful  to  the  nation  in  the  sort 
of  hostility  with  which  opposition  is  now  carried  on. 
Honourable  warfare  is  at  an  end.  The  difference  is  no 
longer  upon  fair  political  questions.  A  few  members 
aim  at  the  worst  end  by  the  worst  means,  and  others 
assist  in  those  means,  some  in  error,  some  in  malice, 
and  some  to  curry  popular  favour.  Concessions  to  such 
enemies  are  most  unwise ;  they  are  imputed  always  to 
weakness,  and  provoke  insults  from  those  whom  it  is 
wished  to  conciliate.  It  is  equally  unwise  to  let  them 
have  the  credit  of  bringing  forward  measures  which  are 
in  accord  with  public  opinion,  when  that  opinion  hap- 
pens to  be  right.  Government  should  look  for  oppor- 
tunities when  to  lead,  and  never  suffer  itself  to  be 
forced. 

But  I  am  getting  into  a  strain  not  altogether  decorous 
to  a  Cabinet  minister.  Let  me  therefore  speak  of  my 
own  affairs.  Grosvenor  will  ask  you  for  two  or  three 
potential  franks  to  transmit  the  clean  sheets  of  the 
"  Peninsular  War,"  as  far  as  they  are  printed.  The 
first  volume  is  very  far  advanced  in  the  press.  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  rewrite  some  pages  upon  fuller  in- 
formation which  reached  me  too  late  :  it  relates  to  the 
first  operations  in  the  South  of  Spain,  and  the  first 
communications  between  Castaiios  and  the  Governor  of 
Gibraltar,  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple.  There  is  a  besetting 
sin  in  our  Government,  of  whicli  I  have  proof  among 
the  papers  in  my  possession, —  a  habit  of  leaving  its 
foreign  agents  without  instructions,  for  the  sake  of 
shifting  off  the  responsibility. 

You  will  perhaps  think  I  have  entered  too  much  into 
minute  details  in  this  volume:  inclination  I  know  leads 
me  to  this ;  this,  however,  will  be  thought  a  merit  or  a 
fault  according  to  the  humour  of  the  reader.  I  ain 
sure  you  will  find  a  good  deal  which  has  not  been  known 
in  this  country  before. 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  301 

It  will  not  be  long  before  1  shall  send  you  a  further 
portion  of  "  Oliver  Newman  ;"  and  when  a  little  more 
progress  is  made,  it  will  become  an  object  of  some  in- 
terest to  proceed  with  it  to  the  end,  for  the  sake  of 
realising  a  larger  sum  than  I  have  ever  been  master  of, 
and  thereby  lessening  a  little  (though  but  little)  the 
continued  necessity  of  periodical  labour.  GifFord  wished 
me  to  have  written  a  political  article  at  this  time.  I 
declined,  not  as  shrinking  from  abuse  (which  some  of 
my  acquaintance  think  me  more  disposed  to  provoke 
than  to  shun),  but  because  the  agricultural  question  is 
one  which  I  do  not  understand,  and  what  I  have  to  say 
upon  the  prospect  of  the  country  may  better  be  said  in 
another  form,  when  I  can  speak  with  perfect  freedom. 
The  next  number  will  contain  a  review  of  "  Dobriz- 
hoffer,''  the  translation  of  which  is  the  work  of  my 
niece,  Sara  Coleridge.  It  was  undertaken  by  her 
younger  brother  before  he  went  to  Cambridge,  to  facili- 
tate his  ways  and  means  there,  and  she  offered  to  assist 
him.  This  assistance  ended  in  her  doing  the  whole 
except  a  very  few  sheets. 

Bedford  is  in  great  trouble  about  his  brother  Henry, 
who  seems  to  have  been  very  hardly  used  at  the  Ad- 
miralty. Promotion  by  merit  in  public  offices  is,  of 
course,  promotion  by  ftivour,  and  therefore  much  more 
objectiouable  than  the  old  law  of  seniority  :  under  that 
law  no  man  was  discontented,  no  man  aggrieved,  and  all 
are  in  hope.     God  bless  you. 

Yours  affectionately, 

R.  S. 


302  LETTEES    or  1822. 

To  Mr.  Allan  Cunningliam. 

Keswick,  April  8.  1822. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  received  your  little  volume  a  few  days  ago.  It 
is  sometimes  convenient  to  thank  an  author  for  his  book 
before  you  have  perused  it;  but  in  this  case  I  chose  to 
read  the  book  first,  —  knowing  very  well  that  I  should 
read  it,  as  I  have  done,  with  great  pleasure. 

The  first  time  I  took  up  one  of  the  London  Maga- 
zines (about  fifteen  months  ago),  I  recognised  your  hand 
there,  and  was  not  a  little  pleased  at  finding  it.  You 
have  now  acquired  for  yourself  a  claim  upon  public 
attention.  Your  powers  have  developed  themselves, 
and  you  have  improved  in  the  art  of  poetry,  even  more 
than  might  have  been  expected,  since  I  first  saw  a  spe- 
cimen of  your  compositions.  You  have  only  to  go  on 
and  prosper.  But  the  more  you  rely  upon  yourself, 
the  better.  Admiration  naturally  leads  to  imitation ; 
but,  by  bearing  another  author  too  mucli  in  mind, 
either  in  the  choice  of  your  story  or  the  conception  of 
a  character,  you  will  do  an  injustice  to  yourself. 

I  like  your  dramatic  language ;  it  is  of  the  right 
stamp  —  free  and  forcible.  And  the  play  is  full  of 
poetry,  without  being  overlaid  by  it. 

I  thank  you  sincerely  for  offering  to  send  copies  to 
any  of  my  friends.  But  this  is  too  much  for  me  to  de- 
sire. As  far  as  my  private  voice  can  recommend  it,  it 
shall  not  be  wanting.  I  have  no  public  one  in  such 
cases,  so  false  is  the  common  opinion  that  I  am  actively 
employed  in  criticising  contemporary  writers. 

If  at  any  time  you  should  revisit  your  native  country, 
remember  Keswick  is  in  the  way  if  you  cross  the  Sol- 
way,  and  only  one  stage  out  of  it  if  you  go  round ; 
and  that  I  shall  be  heartily  glad  to  see  you. 


1822.  EGBERT   SOUTIIEY.  303 

Make  my  remembrances  to  Mr.  Chantrey.    His  bust 
of  Wordsworth    is   full  in  my   sight  at   this  moment. 
The  more  I  consider  it,  the  better  it  pleases  me. 
Farewell,  my  dear  Sir,  and  believe  me, 
Yours,  with  sincere  regard, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  April  20.  1822. 

The  Boswell  whom  you  met  at  Longmans  was  Sir 
Alexander's  only  brother,  and  died  a  few  months  ago. 
Sir  Alexander  had  just  returned  from  the  funeral,  when 
he  was  called  upon  by  his  antagonists.  Poor  James 
Boswell  was  a  thoroughly  good-natured,  inoffensive 
man,  of  considerable  talents.  Malone  left  him  his 
papers  to  complete  an  edition  of  Shakspeare,  and,  after 
many  years'  labour,  he  published  it  last  year.  He  had 
not  long  been  made  a  Commissioner  of  Bankrupts,  be- 
fore which  his  means  had  been  somewhat  scanty,  I 
believe.  I  have  lost  in  him,  not  a  friend,  indeed,  but  a 
pleasant  old  acquaintance,  whom  I  was  always  glad  to 
meet,  and  of  whose  good  will  and  good  word  I  was  al- 
ways sure.  We  were  schoolfellows  ;  and  when  Wynn  left 
school,  and  left  a  bed  vacant  in  my  room,  T,  who  became 
head  boy  of  the  house  by  his  departure,  chose  Boswell  to 
succeed  him.  A  brother  of  Bedford's  (poor  Horace  H. 
Walpole's  godson)  was  at  Westminster  at  the  same 
time.  We  used  to  call  him  Dr.  Johnson,  from  an  affec- 
tation he  had  of  verbal  criticism,  which  he  supported 
by  quoting  Johnson  always  :  and  I  made  Boswell  write 
after  my  dictation  some  ridiculous  anecdotes  of  him, 
under  this  name,  to  be  read  for  the  amusement  of  the 


304  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

sixth  form.  Boswell  enjoyed  this  as  much  as  any  one  ; 
though  he  used  to  say  that  it  was  a  shame  to  make  him 
moh  his  father  ;  and  in  latter  years  he  delighted  to  tell 
the  story,  and  tax  me  with  tyrannising  over  him. 
Horace  was  allowed  to  carry  off  the  memoirs,  which  he 
liked  well  enough  to  give  to  his  brother,  and,  I  dare 
say,  Grosvenor  has  them  at  this  day. 

Boswell  came  here  in  1815  to  visit  Lord  Sunderlin 
(Malone's  brother),  and  was  one  of  the  party  at  our 
midnight  bonfire  on  the  summit  of  Skiddaw. 

Alexander  Boswell  was  an  Etonian.  I  saw  him  once 
when  he  called  in  Dean's  Yard  for  his  bi'other;  and, 
indeed,  Bozzy's  conversation  had  made  me  at  that  time 
well  acquainted  with  all  the  Auchinleck  family.  This  is 
the  second  fatal  duel  which  has  grown  out  of  the  license 
of  the  press.  Neither  party  scruples  at  any  slander 
which  may  injure  or  annoy  its  opponents,  and  the  in- 
crease of  duelling  must  be  one  consequence  of  this  dis- 
graceful system. 

Wilberforce  writes  me  word  that  the  French  are 
about  to  revive  the  Slave  Trade  for  the  purpose  of 
stocking  Guiana  with  negroes,  and  also  that  they  mean 
to  attempt  the  conquest  of  St.  Domingo.  If  this  latter 
account  be  true,  the  intent  must  be  to  get  rid  of  men 
who  are  dangerous  at  home  ;  and  this  must  be  so  ob- 
vious, that  I  do  not  think  it  will  be  attempted.  But  I 
shall  hear  more  of  this  from  Clarkson,  who  will  no 
doubt  pass  a  day  with  me  on  his  way  to  Scotland  this 
summer.  He  resided  in  this  country  when  first  I  came 
into  it.  The  Brazilians  will  pay  the  full  price  for  their 
share  in  the  slave  trade,  if  a  civil  war  should  break  out 
in  Brazil. 

Our  love  to  my  aunt  and  the  children. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  305 

To  Edith  Maij  Southey. 

Keswick,  May  7.  1822. 

My  dear  E.  May, 

Fortune,  I  think,  has  fitted  you  with  a  phy- 
sician to  your  taste.  He  has  tabooed  ham,  vinegar, 
red-herrings,  and  all  fruits.  But  if  the  melancholy 
Jaques  were  not  a  heretic,  he  would  never  have  put 
you  to  a  trial  so  far  beyond  the  strength  of  women.  If 
Eve,  when  she  had  the  choice  of  the  whole  garden  be- 
sides (a  garden,  too,  as  rich  in  fruits  as  William  Her- 
bert's*, which  you  have  been  visiting,  is  in  flowers), 
could  not  refrain  from  the  forbidden  apple,  how  does  he 
suppose  that  a  daughter  of  Eve  can  resist  strawberries, 
cherries,  and  currants,  to  say  nothing  of  green  goose- 
berries and  hard  pears  ? 

Your  second  letter  arrived  to-day,  and  Sara  has  it  at 
Mrs.  Calvert's,  whither  she  is  gone  for  the  remainder 
of  the  week.  I  have  not  much  to  tell  you.  The  boat 
is  in  the  water,  and  looks  very  well;  the  pewf  was  painted 
yesterday;  your  uncle  Tom  has  lost  a  cow,  in  calf-bed  ; 
sundry  rats  have  been  taken  ;  I  expect  a  parcel  by  the 
next  carrier,  and  your  plant  is  as  well  as  can  be  ex- 
pected;  whereby  you  will  understand  that  there  is  an 
addition  to  its  leaves.  But  this  new  leaf  has  been  pro- 
duced in  a  curious  manner, —  the  stem  proceeding  from 
the  base  of  the  youngest  and  largest  of  its  three  an- 
cestors, and  all   the  folded   part   from   the  mother,  or 

*  Of  SpofTortli,  near  Harrogate. 

f  I  have  had  some  dillicultj  in  making  out  this  ;  but  as  Mrs. 
Warter  tells  me  that  her  spencer  stuck  to  the  seat  in  church,  on 
her  return  from  Harrogate,  it  is  evidently  pew  !  Milton,  by  the 
way,  spelt  the  word  "  pue."  In  his  "  Considerations  touching  means 
to  remove  Hirelings  out  of  the  Church"  these  remarkable  words 
occur  :  "  His  sheep  oftentimes  sit  the  while  to  as  little  purpose  of 
benefiting  as  the  sheep  in  their  pues  at  Smithfield." — Prose  Worhsy 
iii.  p.  367.     Ed.  Pickering. 

VOL.  III.  X 


306  «  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

middle  one  ;  so  that  its  genealogy  is  more  puzzling  than 
the  relationsliip  between  Dick  and  John. 

I  am  glad  you  take  so  kindly  to  the  waters,  and  that 
they  seem  to  agree  with  you  so  well.  What  a  happy 
quarter  of  an  hour  you  must  pass  between  the  two 
draughts  !  I  had  forgotten  to  tell  you,  as  part  of  the 
domestic  news,  that  I  have  laid  hands,  since  your  d.'- 
parture,  upon  a  larger  and  richer  picture  of  Mukkens 
than  any  which  Cupn  had  ever  seen  before.  Having  told 
you  all  that  has  happened,  I  believe  I  must  now  tell 
you  what  has  not.  Pone  is  not  gone  ;  Mr.  Midgelcy  is 
not  come ;  Miss  W  *  *  *  *  is  not  married  :  Mr.  F  *  *  *  is 
not  false,  and  a  she-Friar  will  not  be  the  same  thing  as 
a  Nun  ;  Mr.  P  *  *  *  has  made  no  proposals  to  *****  * 
(by-the-by,  if  he  has  ever  any  children  they  will  all  be 
pipkins) ;  Sara  has  had  no  letter  from  "W  *  *  *;  I  have  not 
yet  heard  from  Mr.  B.  ;  your  mother,  notwithstanding 
her  persevering  search,  has  not  found  anything  under  the 
bed  at  night;  and  I  am  neither  younger,  nor  fatter, 
nor  quieter,  nor  graver,  than  when  you  departed  for 
Harrogate.     O  ye  immortal  Powers  ! 

I  would  send  you  a  noise,  but  I  cannot  tell  how  to 
enclose  it;  but  you  may  imagine  one  at  breakfast- 
time. 

My  movements  will  be  determined  by  yours.  If 
Mr.  Wordsworth  goes  with  us,  we  shall  travel  in  a 
jaunting-car,  which  will  bring  us  all  back.  If  I  go 
alone,  I  shall  follow  your  course  to  Skipton,  and  chaise 
it,  solo,  from  thence,  which  will  be  better  than  taking 
the  Penrith  road,  and  sleeping  the  second  night  at  Bo- 
rough Bridge.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  more  than  three 
days  at  Harrogate,  at  the  most. 

Remember  us  to  Miss  II.  and  her  sister,  and  so 
God  bless  you. 

Very  magnificent  daughter, 

Yo  EL  Pa. 


1822..  ROBERT    SOUTHEl'.  307 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  May  8.  1822. 

Can  you  find  out  in  your  Catalan  books  why  the 
Somatenes  are  so  called  ?  I  have  taken  them  to  be  the 
posse  Comitatus,  called  out  for  the  defence  of  the 
country,  and  have  some  notion  (a  vague  one)  that  their 
name  is  derived  from  the  bell  which  is  rung  to  summon 
them  —  -ds  \i  Somatene  were  eqiiivalent  to  tocsin;  but 
I  cannot  tell  where  I  have  read  this.  The  derivation 
of  Miquelet  I  have  found  in  Don  Francisco  Manoel, 
but  I  think  he  never  mentions  the  Somatenes  ;  and  if 
that  be  the  case,  it  must  be  a  name  of  later  growth, 
and  therefore  not  to  be  met  with  in  the  old  laws,  but 
the  U7ide  derivatur  perhaps  may.  I  bought  at  Turin  a 
French  account  of  tlie  struggle  made  by  the  Catalans 
after  they  were  so  basely  sacrificed  at  the  Peace  of 
Utrecht.  It  is  a  vile  book.  The  word  is  there  ex- 
plained twice,  and  in  two  different  ways,  which  just 
serves  to  show  that  the  Frenchman  chose  to  explain 
what  he  did  not  understand.  Mr.  Butler,  the  Catholic 
(Alban  Butler's  nephew),  tells  a  good  story  of  such 
another  Frenchman,  who,  being  asked  the  difierence 
between  the  Dryades  and  the  Hamadryades,  replied, 
with  great  complacency,  that  it  was  exactly  the  same 
as  the  difierence  between  "  Les  Eveques  et  les  Arche- 
veques." 

John  May  talks  of  paying  me  a  visit  in  June,  though 
his  furlough  will  only  extend  to  a  clear  fortnight. 
There  is  no  person  whom  I  should  be  more  glad  to  see, 
except  yourself.  I  shall  get  the  first  volume  off"  my 
hands  in  the  course  of  this  month,  having  only  to  refit 
two  chapters,  which  are  nearly  written  to  my  hands  in 
the  "  Edinburgh  Annual  Register,"  and  to  insert  some 

X  2 


308  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

corrections  from  Sir  H.  Dairy mple's  papers  concerning 
the  post-communications  with  the  Spaniards  in  Anda- 
lusia. This  is  an  awkward  job,  which  I  am  afraid  cannot 
be  done  in  any  better  way  than  by  appending  tliis  new- 
matter  as  corrections. 

I  think  you  had  better  not  send  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham a  copy  of  this  book.  It  will  be  wormwood  to 
all  his  party.  I  have  done  nothing  more  in  the  first 
volume  than  simply  to  characterise  them  in  the  intro- 
ductory chapter ;  but  that  sample  shows  what  they  have 
to  expect,  when  their  conduct  during  the  succeeding 
years  of  the  war  is  to  be  recorded.  They  tell  me  that, 
in  the  late  duel,  when  the  Duke  fired  into  the  air,  he 
said  it  would  be  a  shame  to  shoot  at  so-much-too-good- 
a-mark  as  the  Duke  of  Buckingliam. 

It  has  long  been  apparent  to  me  that  we  are  rapidly 
approaching  a  much  more  perilous  crisis  in  societ}'  than 
that  of  the  Reformation.  The  houses  of  Russell  seem 
to  be  stricken  with  a  judicial  blindness,  or  they  would 
see  how  impossible  it  is  that  they  should  keep  in  a 
second  convulsion  what  they  gained  in  the  first.  A 
Government,  which  on  all  occasions  is  compelled  to  be 
directed  by  popular  opinion,  will  soon  find  itself  no 
government  at  alU  I  do  not  dream  of  preserving  our 
liberties  :  the  question  is,  how  much  will  it  be  possible 
to  save  from  the  wreck,  and  how  long  before  we  arrive 
at  that  strong  and  armed  government  in  which  all 
changes  of  this  nature  must  end,  and  with  which  the 
gradual  but  sure  decay  of  the  nation  will  begin.  The 
Catholic  question  may  be  staved  off  for  a  few  sessions, 
])ut  it  will  be  carried  at  last.  Away  goes  the  Test  then  ; 
llie  Dissenters  get  into  tlie  corporations,  and  the  first 
hungry  and  unprincipled  minister  sells  the  tithes,  as 
Pitt  thought  of  doing.  Parliamentary  Reform  is 
become  little  more  than  a  dispute  concerning  forms — 
the    real    mischief   is    already    efiTocted  ;     and    popular 


1822.  UOBEliT    SOUTIIEY.  3O0 

clamour  carries  everything  in  Parliament,  under  a 
ministry  who  cringe  to  their  enemies,  and  betray  their 
friends ;  a  miserable  crew,  who  divide  their  voices  upon 
the  greatest  question  which  can  possibly  come  bc^fore 
them,  and  who,  for  the  sake  of  putting  off  a  diiiiculty,  or 
even  of  escaping  from  a  debate,  are  ready  to  say  or 
unsay,  to  do  or  to  undo,  anything. 

We  shall  not  be  overturned  and  thrown  over  a  pre- 
cipice as  they  were  in  France  ;  our  institutions  have 
prepared  for  us  an  inclined  plane,  on  whicli  we  are  de- 
scending.    God  bless  you. 

XV.    S. 


To  Bernard  Barton. 

Keswick,  May  18.  1822. 

My  dear  Sir, 

Thank  you  for  your  volume,  which  I  received 
three  hours  ago — long  enougli  to  have  read  the  principal 
poenij  and  a  large  portion  of  the  minor  ones.  They 
do  you  great  credit.  Nothing  can  be  better  than  the 
descriptive  and  sentimental  parts.  In  the  reasoning 
ones  you  sometimes  appear  to  me  to  have  fallen  into 
Charles  Lloyd's  prosing  vein.  The  verse,  indeed,  is 
better  than  his,  but  the  matter  sometimes  (though 
rarely)  like  much  of  his  later  compositions,  incapable 
of  deriving  any  advantage  from  metre.  The  seventh 
stanza  is  the  strongest  example  of  this.  On  the  other 
hand,  this  is  well  compensated  by  many  rich  passages, 
and  a  frequent  felicity  of  expression. 

Your  poem,  if  it  had  suited  your  object  so  to  have 
treated  it,  might  have  derived  farther  interest  from  a 
view  of  Bonaparte's  system  of  policy,  the  end  at  which 
he  aimed,   and   the    means   which    he   used.      1   believe 

X  ri 


310  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

that  no  other  individual  ever  occasioned  so  much 
\vretchedness  and  evil  as  the  direct  consequence  of  his 
own  will  and  pleasure.  His  partisans  acknowledge  that 
the  attempted  usurpation  of  Spain  was  his  sole  act ;  and 
it  was  so  palpably  unjust,  that  the  very  generals  who 
served  him  in  it  condemn  it  without  reserve.  That 
war  in  its  progress  and  consequences  has  not  cost  so 
little  as  a  million  of  lives,  and  the  account  is  far  from 
being  closed. 

You  will  not  like  Bonaparte  the  better,  perhaps,  if  I 
confess  to  you  that,  had  it  not  been  for  him,  I  should 
perhaps  have  assented  to  your  general  principle  concern- 
ing the  unlawfulness  of  war,  in  its  full  extent.  But 
when  I  saw  that  he  was  endeavouring  to  establish  a 
military  despotism  throughout  Europe,  which,  if  not 
successfully  withstood  abroad,  must  at  last  have  reached 
us  upon  our  own  shores,  1  considered  him  as  a  Philis- 
tine, or  a  heathen,  and  went  for  doctrines,  applicable 
to  the  times,  to  the  books  of  Judges  and  of  Maccabees. 

Nevertheless,  I  will  fairly  acknowledge  that  the 
doctrine  of  non-resistance  connected  with  non-obe- 
dience, is  the  strong  point  of  Quakerism  ;  and  nothing 
can  be  said  against  it,  but  that  the  time  for  its  general 
acceptance  is  not  yet  come.  Would  to  God  that  it  were 
nearer  than  it  appears  to  be  !* 

I  am  going  to  fetch  my  eldest  daughter  home  from 
Harrogate,  whither  she  has  gone  for  her  health  with 
an  acquaintance  of  yours,  Miss  Hutchinson,  It  is  a 
rare  thing  for  me  to  leave  home,  but  I  shall  not  be 
absent  many  days.  Farewell,  brother  bard,  and  be- 
lieve me. 

Yours  truly, 

Robert  Southey. 

*  We  have  but  to  repeat  the  same  wishful  prayer  in  1 855  !  We 
are  not  good  enough  yet  for  wars  to  cease  in  all  the  earth  !  and 
thousaudtj  must  yet  stem  the  baptism  oi"  blood  ! 


lii-22.  IIOBEIIT   SOUTUEV.  311 

2'u  Walter  Savage  Landor^  Esq. 

Keswick,  May  27.  1822. 

My  dear  Landor, 

I  shall  rejoice  to  see  your  "  Dialogues."  Mine 
are  consecutive,  and  will  have  nothing  of  that  dramatic 
variety  of  Vvhich  you  will  make  the  most.  My  plan 
grew  out  of  Boethius,  though  it  has  since  been  so 
modified,  that  the  origin  would  not  be  suspected.  The 
personage  who  visits  me  is  Sir  Thomas  More,  as  one 
who  recognises  in  me  some  dyspaUncfiy  but  more  points 
of  agreement.  This  age  is  as  climacteric  as  that  in 
which  he  lived ;  in  fact  we  are  beginning  now  to  per- 
ceive the  whole  effects  of  the  three  great  events  of  his 
age  —  the  invention  of  printing,  the  Reformation,  and 
the  discovery  of  America.  You  see  what  a  canvas  I 
have  taken,  if  I  can  but  fill  up  the  sketch.  By  way  of 
relief,  1  introduce  some  of  the  dialogues  with  local 
scenery,  and  perhaps  I  may  insert  some  verses. 

The  first  volume  of  my  "History"  is  delayed  by 
the  printer.  My  part  is  so  nearly  done,  that  it  will  be 
finished  before  this  reaches  you.  Give  me  in  your  next 
a  direction  whither  to  send  it.  By  that  time  1  hope  the 
printer  will  nearly  have  done  his  work.  The  "  Vision  " 
and  some  smaller  things  will  go  with  it.  Humboldt's 
"  Travels "  (which  you  will  read  with  great  interest), 
and  two  little  volumes  which  Wordsworth  sends  you  — 
the  one  a  series  of  sonnets  ("Ecclesiastical  Sketches" 
he  calls  them),  the  other,  poems  which  he  produced 
during  a  short  tour  on  the  Continent. 

Tlie  complaint  in  Wordsworth's  eyes  is  a  serious  in- 
convenience to  him  ;  but  it  threatens  nothing  worse.  1 
have  been  greatly  alarmed  about  him  this  week,  by 
hearing  that  he  had  a  dreadful  fall  from  a  hoise  ;  but 
to-day  we  learn  thai   he  is  well.      The  horse  ran   away 

X  4 


312  LETTERS    OF  1S22. 

with  him,  and  threw  him  against  a  walh  His  head  was 
cut,  and  bled  profusely,  which  possibly  prevented  worse 
consequences.  Chantrey  has  made  a  noble  bust  of  him. 
Augustus  Hare  sliowed  me  yesterday  what  you  had 
written  of  Wordsworth  in  a  letter  to  his  brother.  It  is 
a  great  pleasure  to  me  when  I  meet  with  a  person  who 
knows  your  writings,  and  can  talk  with  me  about  them, 
and  about  you. 

You  have,  I  suppose,  seen  or  heard  of  the  decorous 
manner  in  which  Lord  Byron  resented  my  comments 
upon  the  satanic  school  of  poetry,  and  of  the  manner 
in  which  he  introduced  your  name.  I  believe  he  will 
take  the  advice  I  gave  him  in  reply,  and  not  meddle 
with  me  again  in  prose. 

We  are  going  on  in  this  country  fast  and  quickly 
towards  Catholic  Emancipation  and  Parliamentary  Re- 
form ;  both,  1  think,  must,  at  no  distant  time,  be  carried, 
and  either  one  will  suffice  to  overthrow  our  institutions. 
The  only  question  is  whether  the  Church  or  State  goes 
first ;  the  trunk  will  not  remain  long  upon  one  leg  when 
the  other  is  lopt.  The  end,  of  course,  must  be  a 
stronger  Government,  though  God  only  knows  through 
what  evil  it  will  be  reached,  and  in  what  sacrifice  it 
must  be  purchased.  In  the  days  of  Charles  I.  there 
was  some  consolation  in  falling  before  the  mighty:  sucli 
men  as  Pym,  Hampden,  Milton,  &c.  But  to  see  the 
work  of  ruin  effected  by  such  people  as  B  *  *  *  *  *  and 
H  *  *  *,  C  *  *  H  *  *  *  *  and  the  house  of  R  *  *  *  *, 
it  is  like  seeing  a  temple  pulled  down  by  wretches  who 
could  not  have  been  thought  worthy  to  carry  a  hod  for 
the  masons  at  the  building. 

Would  that  the  means  for  raising  a  fallen  nation 
were  as  efficacious,  and  as  sure,  as  those  which  are  em- 
ployed for  overthrowing  the  fabric  of  our  greatness ! 
We  might  rticii  look  with  more  hope  toward  Spain, 
Portugal,  and    the   far  mure   degraded    Italians;   for  in 


1822.  ROBEUT    SOUTIIEY.  313 

the  two  former  countries  the  degradation  lias  been  of 
the  State,  not  of  the  people.  One  day  I  hope  you  will 
give  us  your  recollections  of  Italy. 

The  French  have  not  yet  had  enough  of  St.  Do- 
mingo. They  have  actually  made  an  attempt  to  es- 
tablish themselves  in  the  Spanish  part  of  the  island  ; 
andit  is  said  that  they  intend  to  restore  the  Slave  Trade 
openly,  which  they  have  always  carried  on  in  an  under- 
hand way.  This  is  quite  worthy  of  them.  If  they 
send  an  army  from  Europe  against  the  island,  I  hope  it 
will  be  numerous  enough  to  give  the  pestilence  full 
scope.  They  are  an  incorrigible  people,  incapable  of 
any  shame. 

I  am  going  on  myself  quietly  and  contentedly,  with 
no  other  disquietude  than  what  arises  from  the  occa- 
sional illness  of  one  or  other  of  my  children ;  more 
especially  my  little  boy.  He  has  just  recovered  from 
a  bilious  attack,  which  is  the  disease  in  this  country 
most  incident  to  children.  But  he  is  a  fine,  joyous 
creature ;  an  object  of  the  greatest  hope — if  I  could 
look  upon  him  without  fear.  Yours  will  have  the  ad- 
Vcintage  of  acquiring  two  languages  at  once,  with  equal 
facility.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

June  8.  1822. 

My  dear  Grosvenou, 

I  received  your  letter  with  as  much  pleasure  as 
a  man  most  desperately  uncomfortable  in  his  bodily 
feelings  could  derive  from  anything.  My  catarrh  of 
this  year  deserves  to  be  called  a  cat-a-mountain-arrh. 
The  extreme  heat  of  the  weather  aggravates  it.  I  s[)end 
about  halfmv  time  on  the  sofa,  with  niv  ivcsshut,  and 


* 


314  LETTERS    OF  182:2. 

the  other  half  in  blowing  my  nose.  Nothing  ails  my 
eyes  but  the  weakness  which  this  violent  cold  produces. 
However  my  spirits  are  not  a  jot  the  worse,  and  Mrs. 
Coleridge  can  bear  testimony  that  I  practise  all  varie- 
ties of  intonation  in  sneezing.  She  can  testify  also 
that  I  never  sneeze  like  a  sneaker  !  No  !  I  let  the  house, 
and  the  town,  and  the  mountain  echoes  hear  me. 

Oh !  Grosvenor,  is  it  not  a  pity  that  two  men  who 
love  nonsense  so  cordially,  and  naturally,  and  hond- 
Jidically,  as  you  and  I,  should  be  three  hundred  miles 
asunder !  For  my  part  I  insist  upon  it  that  there  is  no 
sense  so  good  as  your  honest  genuine  nonsense.  Read, 
for  instance,  a  pamphlet  of  Mr.  Ricardo's,  or  a  treatise 
of  Dugald  Stewart's,  or  a  criticism  upon  it  in  the  "Quar- 
terly Review,"  —  or  an  agricultural  report  from  a  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons,  with  the  evidence  at 
full  length,  or  a  debate  upon  the  said  report, —  and 
then  tell  me  whether  five  minutes  of  the  "Butler'''*  is 
not  worth  the  whole  existence  of  all  the  political  econo- 
mists, metaphysicians,  and  critics  that  ever  consumed 
time  and  paper  !  Is  the  counsellor's,  the  bishop's,  the 
speaker's,  the  chancellor's  wig  so  respectable  a  covering 
for  the  head  as  the  cap  and  bells  ?  Counsellors  ?  judges  ? 
bishops?  speakers?  chancellors?  has  there  been  ever  any 
lack  of  them  ?  any  scarcity  of  heads  to  wear  becomingly 
their  full-buckled  honours  ?  But  why  have  the  cap  and 
bells  disappeared  from  Court?  Why  —  but  because 
these  degenerate  ages  produce  none  worthy  to  succeed 
to  it.  The  King  can  confer  dignity:  he  can  create 
knight,  baronet,  baron,  viscount,  earl,  marquis,  and 
duke  ;   but  he   cannot   create  a  FooL.f     He  can  find 

*  This  term  has  been  explained  before. 

t  Tlie  autlior  of  "  The  Lust  of  the  Old  Squires,'"  and  the  Last  of 
the  Old  Sfjuires  himself,  were  evidently  of  the  same  opinion.  See 
Chap.  XIV.  of  that  work,  —  '■'■The  Lust  of  the  Old  Squires'  Luve  uf 
Anecdote  and  Humour"  p.  145. 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  315 

fellows  by  the  dozen  to  talk  sense,  or  what  passes  for  it, 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  but  where  will  he  find  one 
who  can  talk  nonsense  to  the  purpose?  And  is  tliere 
any  of  his  ministers  who  do  him  half  so  much  service  in 
Parliament  as  a  good  fool  would  do  there  ? 

For  myself,  I  have  the  honour  to  be  his  Majesty's 
poet,  and  I  am  also  poet  to  my  own  son, —  your  god- 
son, who  says  the  reason  why  he  has  no  tail  is  because 
he  is  a  small  homo,  and  homos  have  no  tails.  In  the 
discharge  of  this  latter  office  (tiie  pleasanter  of  the  two) 
I  have  lately  composed  the  following  descriptive  poem, 
which  I  hope  may  please  godfather  as  well  as  it  pleases 
godson. 

"  How  does  the  water  come  down  at  Lowdore  ?  "  &c.  &c, 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev,  Eerhert  Hill,  ^c. 

Keswick,  July  2.  1822, 

Clemente  Libertino  is  D.  Francisco  Manocl.  I 
have  two  copies  of  his  book;  the  one  a  reprint  at  Madrid, 
ill  1808,  which  speaks  of  the  book  (though  thrice  printed) 
as  of  extraordinary  rarity  in  Portugal  as  well  as  in 
Spain.  Rare  in  Portugal,  however,  it  could  not  have 
been,  or  you  would  not  have  had  two  copies.  The  new 
edition  has  a  life  of  the  author.  Here  it  was  that  I 
found  the  Miquelets,  when  I  read  the  book  several 
years  ago.     The  Expediciom  de  las  Catalanes  is  here. 

To  my  great  surprise  I  found  this  day  that  one  of 
Montaigne's  "Essays"  is  an  account  of  the  Brazilian 
savages,  drawn  up  by  him  from  the  communications 
of  an  ignorant  man  who  had  gone  over  with  Ville- 
gagnon.  Among  other  things  he  gives  two  Tupinamba 
songs  in  French  :  one  of  them  is  a  sort  of  death  song, 
and  turns  upon  that  identical  bravado  which  is  given  in 


316  LETTERS   OF 


1822. 


the  poem  of  "  Caramuru,"  as  a  feat  occurring  in  Para, 
and  which  I  have  noticed  Vol.  II.  641.  There  are 
several  curious  things  in  this  paper,  which  I  shall  fit 
into  their  proper  places.  It  is  more  than  five-and- 
twenty  years  since  I  read  Montaigne  in  an  old  transla- 
tion. I  am  now  going  through  him  in  your  small  edi- 
tion, having  always  some  book  at  hand  to  take  up  iu 
those  fractions  of  time  which  would  else  run  to  waste. 

What  I  said  about  your  Chief,  as  you  call  him,  and 
the  Peninsular  War,  arose  wholly  from  the  subject  of 
the  work,  as  rendering  it  not  an  appropriate  present  to 
one  who  is  unhappily  to  be  classed  tra  la  i^erduta  (jente. 
But  I  should  be  very  sorry  if  you  did  not  make  use  of 
as  many  copies  of  that,  or  any  other  work  of  mine,  as 
you  like  to  dispose  of.  The  volume  is  drawing  near  to 
its  close ;  672  pages  are  printed,  and  the  printer  has 
had  the  conclusion  more  than  a  week  in  his  hands.  It 
will  somewhat  exceed  800.  I  have  written  the  preface, 
and  hesitate  about  the  dedication.  I  have  written  two, 
and  when  I  have  fitted  the  conclusion  to  a  third,  I 
will  send  them  to  you  —  to  choose. 

William  Westall  lives  out  of  the  way,— 19,  Morn- 
iiigton  Place,  Hampstcad  Road ;  and  it  is  very  likely 
that  he  may  be  on  the  road  to  the  North.  He  sent  me 
two  magnificent  specimens  of  his  Peninsula  views, —  the 
Tagus  at  Villa  Valha,  and  the  town  of  Marvam.  Con- 
cerning the  latter  I  have  a  fine  story,  quite  in  the  spirit 
of  old  Portuguese  history ;  but  to  introduce  the  former 
I  was  obliged  to  drive  a  peg  in  on  purpose. 

Two  Danish  poets  have  very  civilly  sent  me  some  of 
their  works.  Oehlenschlager  *  and  Ingemann  are  their 
names.      I  am   looking  at  that   language.     This  is  not 

AVilL  Oelilenscliliiger  I  was  intimate,  and  his  works  are  all 
bcftn-c  me.  ln;,'emann  was  rarely  in  Copenhagen  whilst  I  was  there. 
His  talents  may  have  been  less,  but  his  genius  was  more  refined 
than  that  of  (Jehkusehliiirer. 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  317 

supererogatory  vvovlc,  because  I  have  long  been  accumu- 
lating notes  and  materials  for  a  history  of  Englisli  man- 
ners and  literature,  meaning  to  combine  them. 

Have  you  seen  Leucadio  Doblado  (Blanco  White's) 
*' Letters  from  Spain?  "  They  are  very  amusing.  He 
is  writing  "  Memoirs  of  the  Reign  of  Juan  II." 

Yesterday  I  received  advice  of  a  pi-esent  of  Yankee 
books  from  my  friend  at  Boston. 

I  am  now  pretty  well  recovered  from  the  effects  of 
my  annual  cold,  which  this  y;  ar  seemed  disposed  to 
make  a  settlement  on  my  chest,  and  laid  me  up  for  a 
considerable  time.  A  little  brisk  exercise  will,  I  hope, 
completely  set  me  up  ;  and  this  I  have  in  prospect.  A 
fellow  collegian,  whom  I  have  not  seen  for  eight-and- 
twenty  years,  but  with  whom  I  have  always  kept  up 
some  communication,  is  coming  from  Crediton,  where 
he  keeps  a  school,  to  visit  me  during  his  holidays.  I 
expect  him  on  Thursday  or  Friday,  and  truly  glad  shall 
I  be  to  see  him,  changed  as  we  shall  see  each  other. 
John  May  also  is  coming,  and  lastly  the  Doctor.  1 
shall  be  the  better  for  all  this  rousing,  and  for  the 
mountain  air,  and  for  Lake  exercise.  My  family,  thank 
God,  are  well  ;  and  Edith  May  seems  to  have  derived 
the  expected  benefit  from  her  stay  at  Harrogate. 

Osterwald's  friend  has  not  made  his  second  ap- 
pearance. 

I  am  now  upon  the  "  Book  of  the  Church,"  which  I 
think  you  will  be  pleased  with,  and  the  Catholics 
will  not.  It  is  long  since  they  have  had  so  hard  a  blow. 
But  I  have  harder  in  store  for  them. 

Love  to  my  aunt  and  the  boys.     I  wish  I  could  hear 

that  the    unusual   warmth   of  this  summer  had   taken 

away  your  rheumatism.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


318  LETTERS    OF  1822. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill. 

Keswick,  July  20.  1822. 

Utrum  Jiorum  ?  You  need  not  return  the  paper ; 
but  let  me  know  your  opinion  without  delay. 

I  prefer  the  last. 

The  second  would  cost  me  about  nine  guineas  in 
court  binding,  which  is  a  heavy  tax  upon  dedications. 
If,  however,  you  prefer  it,  tliat  to  Lord  Sidmouth,  with 
a  little   alteration,   would  be   transferable    to   another 

w  ork. 

Love  to  my  aunt  and  the  young  ones.  I  have  quite 
got  rid  of  my  cold. 

XV.     o. 

To  the  Memory 

of 

Spencer  Perceval, 

A  Statesman, 

Who,  in  the  most  arduous  times, 

With  a  right  English  spirit. 

Defended  the  institutions  and  upheld  the  honour  of  his 

country. 

This  work  is  inscribed 

by 

R.  S. 


To  the  King. 


Sir, 


It  is  with  peculiar  fitness,  as  well  as  pleasure, 
that  I  inscribe  to  your  Majesty  a  history  of  the  most 
glorious  war  recorded  in  the  British  annals. 

When  the  Regency  devolved  into  your  hands,  the 
fortunes  of  our  allies  were  at  the  lowest  ebb,  and 
neither    arts    nor    efforts  were  spared  for  making  the 


1822. 


KOnERT    SOU THEY.  319 


spirit  of  this  country  sink  with  thcin.  At  that  momen- 
tous crisis  everything,  under  Providence,  depended  upon 
your  single  determination,  and  to  that  determination 
Great  Britain  is  beholden  for  its  triumph,  and  Europe 
for  its  deliverance. 

To  you,  therefore,  this  faithful  history  is  offered,  as 
a  portion  of  the  tribute  which  will  always  be  paid  to 
the  merits  of  a  just,  magnanimous,  and  splendid  reign, 
and  as  a  proof  of  individual  respect  and  gratitude  from, 
"    Your  Majesty's  most  dutiful  subject  and  servant, 

R.  S. 


To  Lord  Sidmouth. 

In  inscribing  to  your  lordship  this  *'  History  of  the 
Peninsular  War,"  I  am  actuated  not  less  by  private  than 
by  public  considerations. 

I  am  one  of  the  many  persons  who,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  French  revolution,  were  deceived  by  its  specious 
promises.  The  error  is  not  one  upon  which  I  look  back 
either  with  compunction  or  shame.  It  was  connected 
with  generous  feelings,  and  pursued  with  an  utter 
disregard  of  worldly  interests.  Youth,  ignorance,  and 
an  ardent  mind,  rendered  me  easy  to  be  so  deluded. 
I  believed  that  the  war  in  which  this  country  was 
engaged  against  France  was  unjust  in  its  commence- 
ment, and  iniquitous  in  its  object ;  and  I  was  ill- 
informed  enough  to  suppose  that  popular  governments 
must  needs  be  free,  and  that  whenever  such  govern- 
ments could  be  established,  there,  in  the  natural  course 
of  things,  the  people  would  become  virtuous  and  happy. 
Thus  prejudiced,  I  suffered  myself  to  be  persuaded 
that  the  crimes  of  the  revolution  were  caused  by  the 
resistance  which  was  opposed  to  it  ;  and  when  the  cha- 
racter of  that  revolution  had  so  developed  itself  as  to 


320  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

make  it  evident  tliat  worse  clanger  was  to  be  appre- 
liended  from  rcbublican  France  than  tliat  from  wliich 
Europe  had  been  delivered  by  tlie  efforts  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  consummate  abilities  of  Marlborough, 
still  1  thought  a  war  vvliich  in  its  origin  had  been 
injurious,  carried  with  it  a  sin  from  which  no  change  of 
circumstances  in  its  progress  could  purify  it. 

This  was  my  temper  when  the  Peace  of  Amiens  was 
concluded,  and  there  were  many  who  partook  in  the 
same  erroneous  feeling.  No  act  of  amnesty  ever  pro- 
duced such  conciliatory  consequences  as  that  Peace.  It 
restored  in  me  the  English  feeling  which  had  been 
deadened;  it  placed  me  in  sympathy  with  my  country, 
bringing  me  thus  into  that  natural  and  healthy  state 
of  mind  upon,  which  time,  and  knowledge,  and  re- 
flection, was  sure  to  produce  their  proper  and  salutary 
effect.  Now  that  your  lordship  has  retired  from  ad- 
ministration, it  may  not  be  unpleasing  to  you,  at  the 
close  of  a  long  and  honourable  career,  to  receive  this 
public  and  grateful  acknowledgement. 

The  occasion  which  I  have  taken  is  a  fitting  one. 
This  work  records  the  glorious  termination  of  a  war 
commenced  under  your  ministry  with  the  full  accord 
of  the  nation,  and  in  just  reliance  upon  God  and  a 
good  cause.  Throughout  all  the  vicissitudes  of  that 
long  and  eventful  struggle,  whether  you  were  in  or  out 
of  power,  there  was  no  change  in  your  conduct — your 
heart  and  voice  were  always  with  your  country.  No 
factious  motives  stand  upon  record  against  you  ;  no 
malevolent  opposition ;  no  opinion  or  sentiment  which 
you  could  wish  to  recall.  Pursuing  the  same  straight- 
forward course  at  all  times,  you  supported  the  honour 
of  Great  Britain  when  you  no  longer  directed  its 
counsels,  and  finally  bore  a  part  in  those  counsels  when 
the  most  arduous  contest  in  which  Great  Britain  ever 
was  engaged  was  brought  to  a  triumphant  close. 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  321 

That  your  Lordship  may  long  live  to  enjoy  the  appro- 
bation of  your  own  heart,  and  the  esteem  of  all  who 
value  as  they  ought  the  institutions  of  their  country, 
is  the  wish  of  him  who  subscribes  himself,  with  sincere 
respect,  Your  Lordship's  humble  servant, 

R/.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Peter  Elmsley* 

Keswick,  July  17.  1822. 

My  dear  Elmsley, 

I  recommend  to  your  kind  offices  one  who  comes 
recommended  to  me  in  the  highest  terms,  by  Ticknor, 
whom  I  think  you  are  acquainted  with.  Dr.  Channing 
is  said  to  be  the  most  distinguished  preacher  in  America. 
His  creed  is  Arian,  his  fortune  large ;  but  he  has  de- 
voted his  life  to  ministerial  duties,  and  almost  spent 
himself  in  them.  More  than  this  I  need  not  say,  for 
his  conversation,  if  he  is  fortunate  enough  to  find  you  at 
Oxford,  will  sufficiently  recommend  him.  Farewell, 
and  believe  me, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  §-c. 

Keswick,  July  30.  1822. 

D.  Jose  Maria's  edition  of  the  "  Lusiad"  is,  I  believe, 
to  be  seen  at  Holland  House,  but  only  to  be  had  from 
the  editor  himself.  An  octavo  edition,  I  think,  was 
published  for  sale.  I  have  never  seen  either.  The 
want  of  F.  y  Sousa's  edition  was  a  deficiency  which  I 

*  I  have  vainly  endeavoured  to  recover  the  correspondence 
•with  Elmsley,  to  whom  Southey  was  greatly  attached,  and  to 
whom  he  dedicated  the  Book  of  the  Church.  This  letter,  not 
being  delivered,  was  returned. 

VOL.  III.  Y 


o22  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

felt  much  more ;  his  commentary  must  certainly  contain 
many  things  which  I  could  have  turned  to  good  account. 
I  returned   from  Rydal  to-day,  not  the  worse  for  a 
walk  of  fifteen  miles,  the  last  ten  in  the  rain.     A  great 
deal  of  exercise  during   the  last  three  weeks  has  done 
me  great  service,   and  when  John  May  and  his  son  ar- 
rive I  shall  put  them  upon  their  mettle.     Dr.  Words- 
worth is  at  Rydal,  and  inquired  for  you.     I  had  some 
conversation  with  him  concerning  Westminster.    With- 
out knowing  that  I  had  any  immediate  interest  in  the 
question,  he  took  some  pains  to  show  me  that  for  a  boy 
of  talents  it  would  be  more  advantageous  to  be  elected 
off  to    Trinity    College   than    to  Christ   Church.      The 
scholarship  while  it  lasts  (which  is  till  the  master's  de- 
gree is  taken)  is  worth  40/.  a  year ;  not  much  less  there- 
fore, according  to  his  account,  than  a  studentship.    The 
fellowships  are  400/.    or  500/.     For  these,  indeed,    a 
Westminster  scholar  has  only  the  same  chance  as  other 
scholars,  but  cceteris  paribus  there  would  be  a  wish  to 
prefer  him.     For  one  who  chooses   a  college  life,  the 
Christ  Church  destination  would  be  obviously  the  best, 
because  the  studentship  there  is  everything  ;  but  in  any 
other   case   Dr.  W.  is,  perhaps,   right  in  representing 
the  Cambridge  chance  as  worth  more  than  the  Oxford 
certainty. 

We  have  been  overrun  with  visitors  since  my  return. 
I  found  in  Keswick  my  old  acquaintance  Sharpe,  and 
also  Randolph  of  Roanoke*,  so  he  styles  himself  upon 
his  card ;  the  Randolph  who  was  considered  as  the  head 
of  the  Federal  party  in  America,  while  any  such  party 

*  On  liis  return  from  St.  Petersburg,  I  travelled  with  this  re- 
markable man,  and  had  much  conversation  with  him.  I  shall  not 
readily  forget  his  kindness  and  attention  ;  but  one  might  almost 
see  the  blood  of  Pocohontas  in  his  veins.  Finding  that  I  was  well 
up  in  the  Latin  poets,  it  was  curious  to  hear  him  spout  Lucan 
against  the  waves  of  the  North  Sea,  which  we  were  crossing.  INIy 
impression  was  at  the  time  that  Lucan  was  the  only  Latin  poet 
he  knew  ;  but  T  may  be  wrong. 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  323 

existed.  A  singular  but  very  interesting  man,  Sir  John 
Malcolm,  breakfasted  with  me  tliis  morning,  and  Mr. 
Duncan,  a  Scotch  pastor,  who  first  set  the  saving  banks 
on  foot.  Malcohn's  herculean  form  is  much  shaken 
since  I  saw  him  last,  and  well  it  may ;  for  during  his 
last  five  years'  residence  in  India  he  did  not  spend  three 
months  under  a  roof.  But  he  is  recovering,  and  his 
spirits  are  as  exuberant  as  ever.  He  is  on  his  way  to 
London  to  publish  a  book,  which,  from  the  specimens 
which  he  has  shown  me,  must  be  a  very  curious  one.  It 
is  in  substance,  and  perhaps  in  form  also,  the  official 
report  of  his  Government. 

Yesterday  I  had  a  letter  from  Westall,  asking  for  the 
sketch  of  Elvas.  I  thought  he  had  been  on  his  way 
northwards,  but  business  will  detain  him  at  home.  I 
send  you  his  direction  (19.  Mornington  Place,  Hamp- 
stead  Road),  that  you  may  either  send  the  sketch,  or 
take  it,  if  you  feel  inclined  to  see  what  he  has  already 
done.  If  you  see  him,  ask  him  to  show  you  a  view  in 
Madeira  (if  he  has  it  still  in  his  possession),  with  the 
platform  before  a  Capuchin  convert  and  the  Bell.  He 
has  seen  New  Holland,  the  East  Indies  and  the  West, 
but  considers  Madeira  as  the  most  picturesque  country 
which  he  has  yet  visited. 

I  have  followed  your  advice,  and  sent  off  dedication, 
prefi\ce,  &c.,  as  soon  as  your  letter  arrived.  Three 
sheets  will  now  complete  the  printer's  work. 

God  bless  you, 

Iv.  S. 


To  the  Right  Hon.  C.  W.  W.  Wynn,  ALP. 

Keswick,  August  17.   1822. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I    am  setting  off,  not  very  willingly,    to  meet 
Canning   at   Mr.  Bolton's,  where   he    is    expected   to- 

Y    2 


32-i  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

morrow,  if  his  plans  are  not  changed  by  Lord  Lon- 
donderry's unhappy  death.  It  has  often  appeared 
wonderful  to  me  that  any  mind  or  body  can  endure  the 
perpetual  wear  and  tear  of  ministerial  business  in 
England.  That  business  would  be  sufficient  for  any 
human  capacity,  even  without  the  House  of  Commons ; 
and  I  am  less  surprised  at  an  instance  like  this  of  over 
excitement,  than  that  instances  of  insanity  so  produced 
are  not  more  frequent,  especially  in  minds  which  have 
little  or  no  religious  principle  to  regulate  them. 

What  a  blessing  is  tranquillity  !  I  am  so  accustomed 
to  it,  that  any  thing  which  interrupts  my  ordinary  course 
of  life  seems  a  change  for  the  worse,  and  I  do  not  even 
leave  home  for  a  couple  of  days,  on  an  occasion  like  this, 
without  reluctance.  During  the  last  month  I  have 
taken  a  great  deal  of  exercise,  to  the  material  improve- 
ment of  my  health  ; — first  with  my  old  friend  Lightfoot, 
and  lately  with  John  May.  We  have  been  mountain- 
eering in  all  directions,  and  I  shall  have  another  week's 
work  of  the  same  kind  on  my  return.  The  sensible 
strength  which  I  have  gained  must  compensate  for  a 
loss  of  time  which  otherwise  I  could  not  afford. 

My  first  volume  of  the  war  is  finished ;  the  last 
proof  sheet  is  now  on  the  table  before  me.  I  have 
dedicated  it  to  the  King.  Whether  Murray  means  to 
delay  the  publication  till  the  winter  I  know  not  ;  this  is 
his  concern,  and  I  am  perfectly  indifferent  about  it. 
One  of  the  first  things  which  I  shall  do  will  be  to  re- 
sume the  "  Tale  of  Paraguay,"  and  go  on  with  it  reso- 
lutely and  doggedly  till  it  is  completed.  This  I  must 
do,  because  my  ways  and  means  require  it. 

But  I  am  interrupted,  and  must  close  my  dispatches. 

God  bless  you. 

xi.  S. 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  325 

To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  Sfc. 

Keswick,  Aug.  31.  1822. 

I  AM  now,  after  a  succession  of  visitors,  left  awhile  to 
myself,  —  a  good  deal  the  better  for  the  course  of  exer- 
cise into  which  I  have  been  led,  and  somewhat  the  worse 
for  the  large  subtraction  thus  made  from  time  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  bestowed  upon  my  ways  and 
means.  By  the  time  this  evil  is  remedied,  the  good  I 
suspect  will  be  undone  :  good,  however,  it  is,  as  long  as 
it  lasts.  My  farthest  stretch  from  home  has  been  to 
Mr.  Bolton's,  on  Windermere  ;  whither  I  went  to  meet 
Canning,  and  where  I  found  Heber  also.  Heber  has 
since  been  here,  and,  upon  looking  over  my  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  books,  pronounced  them  a  better  col- 
lection than  any  which  he  had  seen,  except  his  own  ;  — 
much  better  than  Murdoch's.  If  the  channel  which  you 
are  now  trying  should  prove  a  good  one,  there  are  se- 
veral books  which  I  shall  be  desirous  of  obtaining,  — 
among  others,  the  "  Agiologio  Lusitano "  of  Cardoso, 
the  "  Sermoens  de  P.  Antonio  das  Chagas,"  and  the 
"  Olras  de  S.  Teresa,"  —  of  which  Mal-lavado  used  to 
have  copies  in  abundance. 

Among  the  many  reasons  which  make  me  regret  that 
you  would  never  be  persuaded  to  travel  thus  far,  one 
is,  that  I  should  so  have  liked  to  show  you  the  progress 
which  is  made  in  the  "  History  of  Portugal."  It  is  in 
more  forwardness  than  any  work  that  I  ever  yet  com- 
mitted to  the  press;  and,  as  soon  as  the  "  Peninsular 
War  "  is  finished,  to  the  printer  it  will  go.  I  have  a 
continuous  narrative  from  the  C.  Henrique  down  to  the 
accession  of  Sebastian.  A  great  deal  is  to  be  added  in 
transcribing  it  from  materials,  good  part  of  which  are 
read}'.  The  Cardinal's  reign,  and  the  subsequent  events 
till    Philip    obtained    possession    of   the    kingdom,  are 

T    3 


32G  LETTERS   OF  1S22. 

written,  and  large  collections  made  for  the  following 
period.*  You  would  be  well  pleased  to  see  the  order  in 
which  all  this  is,  and  the  battle  array  of  my  shelves, 
where  so  many  of  your  old  acquaintance  are  stationed 
in  good  company. 

John  May  enjoyed  his  visit  greatly.  Dr.  Bell  is  here  ; 
he  rode  off  this  morning  with  Edith  May,  and  is  just 
returned,  after  a  circuit  of  one  and  twenty  miles  with 
her,  —  part  of  it  the  wildest  road  in  this  country.  He 
went,  as  usual,  without  a  servant ;  they  had  to  lead 
their  horses  themselves,  and  he  opens  the  gate  with  all 
the  alacrity  of  a  boy.  So  youthful  an  old  man  I  never 
before  saw. 

I  have  not  heard  from  Harry  concerning  the  Yankee 
books  which  I  desired  him  to  inquire  about.  Randolph 
of  Roanoke  has  been  here.  But  I  had  tlie  vexation  of 
missing  Telford,  who  arrived  with  Sir  Henry  Parnell 
while  I  was  at  Mr.  Bolton's.  This  was  a  great  mortifi- 
cation, inasmuch  as  I  owe  Telford  every  kind  of  friendly 
attention,  and  like  him  heartily. 

There  is  only  one  proof  more  of  the  first  volume  to 
reach  me,  containing  some  additions  which  I  have  grafted 
in  their  proper  places,  by  cancelling  two  leaves.  The 
new  matter  is  very  curious,  and  was  drawn  from  Sir 
Hew  Dalrymple's  papers.  Whether  Murray  will  delay 
the  publication  till  the  winter  I  cannot  tell.  I  have 
made  a  memorandum  concerning  Mr.  Wither's  copy, 
and  it  will  be  duly  sent  you.  Harry  may  take  the 
presentation  copy  to  Court,  if  he  thinks  proper;  and  I 
should  think  it  would  be  worth  his  while  to  choose  him-^ 
self  upon  the  occasion.  I  wait  only  for  some  promised 
papers  from  B.  Frere,  to  begin  with  the  second  volume; 
that  is,  with  the  printing  of  it.     A  large  portion  of  the 

*  All  these  collections  are  in  my  possession.  As  a  mercantile 
speculation  Messrs.  Longman  and  Co.  did  not  consider  that  the 
puVjlication  would  answer.     It  bides  its  time. 


1822.  EGBERT   SOUTHEY,  327 


volume  will  be  transferred  from  the  "Edinburgh  Annual 
Register,"  without  much  alteration. 

When  you  are  prowling  at  the  booksellers',  or  look- 
ing over  their  catalogues,  lay  hold  of  Nalson's  collection, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Rebellion,  if  you  see  it,  as  I 
think  you  may,  at  a  low  price.  There  are  two  volumes, 
small  folio.  It  is  a  collection  made  by  Charles  II.'s 
command,  to  counteract  the  impression  which  Rush- 
worth,  by  his  insidious  omissions,  intended  to  produce, 
and  has,  in  fact,  produced.  Nalson's  is  much  better,  as 
far  as  it  goes.  I  have  been  working  upon  a  copy  which 
I  borrowed  from  Lowther  ;  the  book  is  probably  now 
at  a  low  price,  but  in  all  likelihood  it  will  be  very 
considerably  raised  by  what  I  shall  one  day  say  of  it. 

A  Baltimore  review  of  the  "  Life  of  Wesley  "  has 
just  been  sent  me,  wherein  it  is  affirmed  that,  beyond 
all  doubt,  I  constructed  it  upon  the  plan  of  Homer's 
*'  Iliad."     And  this  is  said  seriously ! 

Goodenough,  it  is  said,  will  be  made  Dean  of  Ch.-Ch., 
whenever  they  can  promote  the  present  Dean.  I  wish 
Westminster  were  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  would 
look  into  the  mischievous  system  pursued  in  college; 
where  the  bo3^s,  through  the  slavery  which  they  endure 
at  first,  and  the  tyranny  which  they  exercise  afterwards, 
rather  lose  ground  than  gain  it.  Dr.  Wordsworth  told 
me  he  was  equally  surprised  at  the  examination  of  the 
juniors  (those  just  elected),  and  of  the  seniors;  the 
former  appearing  to  such  advantage,  the  latter  so 
much  below  what  they  ought  to  have  been.  I  explained 
to  him  the  cause.  A  good  master  rriight  easily  remedy 
it.     Love  to  my  aunt  and  the  boys. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


Y  4 


328  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

To  John  Richnan,  Esq.,  §'c. 

Keswick,  September  9.  1822. 
My   DEAR   R., 

Such  work  as  that  of  the  population,  in  addition 
to  your  other  labours,  is  enough  to  break  down  any- 
body. The  objection  to  task-work  is,  tliat  it  tempts  the 
industrious  to  work  beyond  their  strength ;  and  in  intel- 
lectual, over-exertion  is  worse  than  in  bodily,  labour. 

I  have  spent  a  very  idle  summer,  much  to  the  advan- 
tage of  my  health.  A  fellow  collegian,  for  whom  I 
have  a  great  regard,  came  to  pass  his  Midsummer  holi- 
days with  me,  from  Crediton,  where  he  is  master  of  the 
grammar  school.  I  began  a  course  of  exercise  with 
him,  and  persevered  in  it,  much  as  it  cost  me  for  some 
time,  till  at  length  the  effect  which  I  looked  for  was 
produced ;  and  my  constitution  recovering  its  tone,  I 
became  once  more  a  sound  man.  John  May  came  to 
me  just  after  Lightfoot's  departure.  I  walked  about  a 
hundred  miles  more  with  him,  and  am  now  in  as  good 
trim  for  walking  as  any  man  of  my  years  need  be.  This 
I  hope  will  last  till  I  visit  London,  which  I  think  of 
doing  as  soon  as  the  rigour  of  the  winter  shall  be  over. 

My  first  volume  is  completed.  I  send  back  by  this 
post  two  cancels,  in  each  of  which  insertions  to  the 
amount  of  two  pages  have  been  nicely  fitted;  and  with 
these  the  printer  will  finish  his  part.  The  time  for 
publication  rests  with  Murray,  and  I  should  not  think 
he  will  delay  it  till  what  is  called  the  season,  because 
the  demand  for  such  a  book  cannot  depend  much  upon 
people  being  in  or  out  of  town.  It  is  dedicated  to  the 
King,  briefly  and  becomingly.  The  Buonapartists  and 
the  Whigs  will  be  thoroughly  exasperated.  I  have 
only  said  enough  of  the  latter  to  show  them  what  they 
may  expect  on  the  progress  of  the  history,  when  they 
.shall  have  full  justice. 


1822. 


ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  329 


I  was  invited  to  meet  Canning  at  Mr.  Bolton's.  It 
is  the  opinion  of  his  friends  tliat  if  he  accepts  office  the 
House  of  Commons  will  kill  him  in  two  or  three  years. 
In  reality,  flesh  and  blood  is  not  equal  to  such  wear  and 
tear  as  is  exacted  from  an  English  minister  in  these 
times.  I  told  him  plainly  that  the  present  state  of 
thinsfs  was  a  contest  between  wickedness  and  weakness, 
and  that  there  needed  no  spirit  of  prophecy  to  foresee 
what  the  event  must  be.  To  my  sore  vexation,  when  I 
returned  from  this  short  absence  I  found  that  Mr.  Tel- 
ford*, whom  I  had  rather  have  seen  than  all  the  states- 
men in  Europe,  had  passed  through  Keswick.  You  may 
suppose  how  this  mortified  me. 

Blanco  White  has  written  an  entertaining  account  of 
what  Spain  was  before  the  year  1808,  under  the  name 
of  "Leucadio  Doblado,"  which  I  interpreted  as  soon  as 
I  saw  it  advertised.  I  mean  to  review  his  book,  and 
take  that  opportunity  of  putting  the  peninsular  revolu- 
tions in  their  proper  light.  Ferdinand,  I  think,  can 
hardly  escape  with  life.  The  King  of  Portugal  has  a 
better  chance.  But  I  see  no  end  to  the  miseries  of  either 
country,  except  under  a  strong  and  vigilant  despotism, 
itself  the  worst  of  all  evils,  anarchy  excepted.  Who 
would  not  rather  have  lived  in  the  days  of  Tiberius, 
or  Nero,  than  in  those  of  Marius  and  Sylla?  In  Eu- 
rope the  tendency  at  this  time  is  through  one  of  these 
evils  to  the  other.     God  bless  you.     Remember  me  to 

IMrs.  R. 

Rt  S. 

*  A  MS.  journal  of  a  visit  to  Scotland,  in  1819,  in  company 
with  Rickman  and  Telford,  now  before  me,  shows  how  much  he 
was  attached  to  this  excellent  man,  whom  I  had  the  honour  to 
number  amongst  my  actjuaintance. 


330  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

To  the  Rev.  Neville  White,  ^c. 

Keswick,  Sept.  1. 1822. 

My  dear  Neville, 

Taken  up  as  I  have  been  for  the  last  two  months 
by  a  succession  of  guests  and  chance  visitors,  even  to  a 
total  suspension  of  all  my  customary  and  necessary  em- 
ployments, I  would  yet  have  found  time  for  writing  to 
you  if  I  had  known  of  your  father's  decease.  What, 
however,  could  I  have  said  more  than  your  own  feelings 
and  faith  had  suggested  to  you  !  For  the  best  of  us, 
when  our  lives  are  not  of  essential  use  to  others,  death 
is  better  than  life  ;  and  it  were  weakness,  indeed,  to 
desire  for  our  friends  a  prolonged  old  age,  when,  in  our 
sober  judgment,  we  should  wish  no  such  lot  for  our- 
selves. 

This,  though  a  solemn  event,  is  no  evil.  It  was  my 
lot  to  lose  both  my  parents  when  they  were  very  little 
older  than  I  am  at  present,  and,  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  nature,  might  have  enjoyed  many  years  of  life. 

Ja)nes's  affection  of  the  chest  is  not  necessarily  of 
an  alarming  nature.  I  know  at  this  time  three  in- 
stances of  persons  who  have  repeatedly  discharged  large 
quantities  of  blood  from  the  lungs  ;  the  ailment  is  of 
many  years'  standing,  and  yet  all  three  are  good  lives. 

Solomon  Pigott  has  written  me  a  letter  of  remonstrance 
upon  the  printed  sheet  which  contains  the  circular  of 
his  "  Case."  I  have  neither  noticed  the  case,  nor  the 
letter.  With  regard  to  the  matter  of  his  complaint,  he 
has  provoked  the  treatment  which  he  has  received. 
What  became  of  the  intended  prints  for  this  third 
volume  ?  Let  me  know  in  time  when  it  is  proposed  to 
distribute  these  gleanings  at  their  proper  places,  and  I 
will  then  alter  the  Memoir  accordingly. 

I  congratulate  you  on  your  preferment ;  its  conveni- 
ence is   its  value,  and  this   to  you  is  of  the  greatest. 


1822.  IIOBERT   SOUTIIEY.  331 

Moreover,  it  is  a  very  gratifying  proof  of  the  estima- 
tion in  which  you  are  held  by  the  Dean  and  Chapter. 

My  brother  told  me  of  your  transit  through  London. 
You  have  now  accomplished  a  great  work  in  removing 
your  family,  and  in  so  doing  it  may  reasonably  be 
hoped  you  have  performed  the  last  of  a  long  series  of 
most  important  services.  You  are  a  happy  man,  Ne- 
ville, and  it  is  delightful  to  think,  as  my  experience 
shows  me,  that  the  best  men  are  always  the  happiest. 

Cuthbert  has  just  been  to  wish  me  good  night.     He 
is,  I  think,  just  as  winning  for  his  age  as  he  was  when 
you  and  your  good  friends  were   so  well  pleased   with 
him.    To-day,  for  the  first  time,  and  by  his  own  earnest 
desire,  he  has  been  to  church.     His  sisters,  thank  God, 
are  well ;  their  mother  is  better  than  her  usual  health, 
and  I  myself  strengthened  almost  beyond  my  expecta- 
tion by  the  brisk  exercise  which  I  have  taken  during 
the  last  two  months.     An  old  college  friend,  Lightfoot 
by  name  (master  of  Crediton  school),  whom  I  had  not 
seen  since  we  parted  when  we  both  left  Oxford  eight 
and  twenty  years  ago,  mustered  up  resolution  to   take 
a  longer  journey  than  he  had  ever  before  accomplished, 
for  the  sake  of  visiting  me.     He  stayed  with  me  as  long 
as  his  holidays  would  allow ;  and  I  believe  no  men  ever 
met  more  cordially  after  so  long  a  separation,  or  en- 
joyed each  other's  society  more.     I  shall  never  forget 
the  manner  in  which  he  first  met  me,  nor  the  time  in 
which  he  said  that  having  now  seen  me,  he  should  re- 
turn home  and  die  in  peace.      We  took  many  of  the 
walks  which  you  and  I  performed  together,  and  which 
every  year  become  dearer  to  me,  for  the  recollection  of 
those  friends  with  whom  the  scenery  is  now  associated. 
My  old  friend  John  May  has  also  visited  me  for  the 
first  time,  and  stayed  with  me  three  weeks.     I  am  now 
expecting  my  brother  as  soon  as  he  can  give  himself  a 
fortnight's  holiday  from  his  profession. 


332  LETTERS    OF  1822. 

A  word  or  two  more  of  my  employments.  The 
first  volume  of  the  "Peninsular  War"  is  completed. 
Whether  Murray  will  publish  it  now,  or  delay  it  till 
the  winter,  rests  with  him.  You  will,  of  course,  receive 
a  copy  as  soon  as  it  appears.  I  have  dedicated  it  to  the 
King.  The  book  of  the  Church  lingers,  and  I  suspect 
Murray  has  mislaid  the  last  portion  of  manuscript.  I 
shall  now  take  it  up,  and  pursue  it  to  the  end. 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  Neville, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Oct.  7.  1822. 

My  dear  G., 

I  very  much  approve  your  laudable  curiosity  to 
know  the  precise  meaning  of  that  noble  word  horse- 
mangandering.  Before  I  tell  you  its  application,  you 
must  be  informed  of  its  origin  and  history.  Be  it 
therefore  known  unto  you  that  *****  *^  the  whole 
and  sole  inventor  of  the  never-to-be-forgotten  lingo 
grande  (in  which,  by-the-by,  I  purpose  ere  long  to 
compose  a  second  epistle),  thought  proper  one  day  to 
call  my  daughter  a  great  horsemangander,  thinking,  I 
suppose,  that  that  appellation  contained  as  much  un- 
feminine  meaning  as  could  be  put  into  any  decent 
compound.  From  this  substantive  the  verb  has  been 
formed  to  denote  an  operation  performed  by  the  said 
daughter  upon  the  said  aunt,  of  which  I  was  an  aston- 
ished spectator.  The  horsemangander  —  that  is  to  say, 
Edith  May — being  tall  and  strong,  came  behind  the 
person  to  be  horsemangandered  (to  wit,  *****  *)j 
and  took  her  round  the  waist,  under  the  arms,  then 
jumped  with  her  all  the  way  from  the  kitchen  into  the 
middle  of  the, parlour  ;  the  motion  of  the  horsemangan- 


1822.  ROBEUT   SOUTHEY.  333 

dered  person  at  every  jump  being  something  like  that 
of  a  paviour's  rammer,  and  all  resistance  impossible. 

I  do  not  mistranslate  heau  ideal  when  I  write  of  the 
fair  ideal  of  a  work  of  art,  a  human  character,  or  a 
commonwealth.  I  have  no  objection  to  Anglicise  a 
word  from  any  language  when  we  have  no  equivalent 
for  it,  and  would  therefore  write  menagery,  and 
naivety ;  but  I  have  a  very  great  objection  to  sec 
written  English  interlarded  with  foreign  phrases.* 

God  bless  you. 

li.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  8fc. 

Keswick,  Oct.  14.  1822. 

B.  Frere  has  sent  me  a  boxful  of  his  brother's 
papers.  I  have  as  many  bundles  fastened  with  red 
tape  before  me  as  if  I  were  at  the  head  of  a  public 
office,  and  am  a  great  deal  busier  with  them  than  if  I 
were  paid  two  or  three  thousand  a  year  for  my  work. 
These  papers  will  carry  on  my  narrative  very  satisfac- 
torily to  the  time  when  those  which  I  had  from  M. 
"Wellesley  begin.  But  I  shall  very  likely  spring  some 
other  mines  when  I  come  to  town. 

Sir  Robert  Inglis  has  given  me  the  first  and  third 
volumes  of  the  "  Chronicas  de  la  Apostolica  Provinica 
de  S.  Gresrorio  de  Relifi^iosos  descalzos  de  N.  S.  P. 
S.  Francisco  en  las  Islas  Philipinas,  China,  Japon," 
&c.,  printed  in  their  convent  at  Manila,  from  whence 
this  imperfect  set  was  brought  by  some  curioso  in 
Sir  W.  Draper's  expedition.  Sir  R.  purchased  them 
the  other  day  at  the  sale  of  a  relation's  books.  The 
first  volume  contains  a  fuller  description  of  the   Phi- 

*  I  am  often  inclined  to  apply  to  such  interlarders  the  words  of 
Moth  in  "  Love's  Labour  Lost "  :  "  They  have  been  at  a  feast  of 
languages,  and  stolen  the  scraps."  —  Act  v.  sc.  L. 


334  LETTERS    OF  1822. 

lippincs  than  I  have  seen  in  any  other  work.  There 
is  a  great  deal  of  curious  matter  in  the  book,  as 
indeed  there  is  in  almost  all  books  of  this  kind.  The 
good  matter  is  mingled  in  them  as  it  is  in  our  county 
histories,  and  the  rubbish  is  better  worth  taking. 

I  have  also  added  to  my  stores  the  two  volumes  of 
the  earlier  "  Edda,"  published  at  Copenhagen  in  1784 
and  1818  ;  a  third  is  soon  expected,  to  complete  the 
work.*  Were  it  only  for  its  copious  glossaries,  it  would 
be  exceedingly  curious;  but  the  poems  themselves  are 
of  the  most  curious  kind.  At  the  same  time  I  obtained 
a  *'  Bibliotheca  Danica."  f  I  wish  it  had  included 
Swedish,  as  well  as  Norwegian  and  Icelandic  authors. 

Like  you,  it  is  not  often  that  I  meet  with  any  one 
who  can  enter  into  my  pursuits.  People  come  to  look 
at  me  as  a  live  poet,  little  thinking  how  completely  I 
have  ceased  as  such,  and  that  I  have  as  little  inclina- 
tion to  write  verses  as  to  play  at  pottle  or  whip  a  top. 
Now  that  I  am  left  to  myself  and  to  my  ordinary 
habits,  I  take  every  night  after  supper,  with  my  black- 
currant rum  (thanks  be  to  your  friend  Hoblyn  for  in- 
troducing me  to  that  admirable  tincture),  a  composing 
dose  of  Dutch,  looking  through  the  huge  work  of  Ait- 
zema,  from  which  I  shall  make  no  inconsiderable 
gleanings.  It  is  an  invaluable  repository  of  facts  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  17th  century,  and  a  great  deal 
which  it  contains  is  not  to  be  found  elsewhere. 

The  other  day  I  finished  the  "  Life  of  Philippe  de 
Mornay,"  better  known  among  us  by  that  name  than 
by  his  title  of  Du  Plessis.     The  book  is  heavy,  but  it 

*  This  appeared  in  1828.  I  sent  it  to  Soutliey  from  Copen- 
hagen. Notbinjj  extant  is  more  curious  than  Sa3mund's  "  Edda." 
The  "Kibelungen  Lied"  is  quite  a  secondary  concern  compared 
with  it,  and  Ossian  a  galimatias,  and  a  schicurmereij. 

f  The  '•'■  Litteratur Lexicon"  by  Nyerup  and  Kraft,  I  suppose, 
is  alluded  to.  It  is  a  very  useful  book,  printed  at  Copenhagen  in 
1820. 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  335 

shows  liow  much  intrigue  was  mixed  up  with  the  affairs 
of  the  Huguenots,  and  Du  Plessis  himself  seems  to 
have  heen  a  perfect  example  of  integrity.  When  I 
come  to  you  in  the  spring,  I  shall  set  upon  you 
•'  Sully."  By  that  time  I  shall  have  pretty  nearly 
finished  the  earlier  "  Memoirs,"  as  far  as  my  set  goes. 

Between  ourselves,  that  journal,  tlie  *'  Quarterly 
Review,"  will  be  in  great  danger  whenever  Gifford 
drops  it,  or  drops  off.  It  has  got  itself  into  deserved 
disgrace  by  its  silence,  and  its  notice  concerning  Lord 
Byron  ;  and  many  persons  are  offended,  as  30U  and  I 
have  been,  by  its  irritating  papers  concerning  America, 
and  by  the  temper  of  its  criticism.  A  new  "  Quar- 
terly "  has  been  thought  of;  and  if  an  unfit  person 
were  to  succeed  Gifford,  or  if  his  successor  were  to 
commit  the  same  faults,  I  have  no  doubt  it  would  be 
started.  If  I  would  undertake  the  management,  a 
bookseller  of  sufficient  capital  would  move  into  the  west 
end  of  the  town  from  the  City,  secure  to  me  500/.  a 
year,  give  me  half  the  profits  above  that  sum,  whatever 
they  might  be,  and  vest  the  copyright  in  me,  and  coad- 
jutors enough  are  ready  to  bear  a  part.  This  has  been 
intimated  to  me  for  my  consideration.  I  am  not  in- 
clined to  make  so  great  a  sacrifice  of  worthier  pursuits 
as  would  be  required,  and  would  much  rather  see  the 
existing  "  Quarterly  Review  "  in  the  hands  of  an  editor, 
who  would  make  it  what  it  ought  to  be.  Love  to  my 
aunt.  God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq, 

Keswick,  Oct.  18.  1822. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

Your  letter  gave  me  the  greatest  pleasure,  en- 
hanced by  knowing  that  the  promptitude  and  manner 


336  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

in  which  a  promotion  so  just  and  proper  in  itself  has 
been  granted  must  have  been  oiving  to  Wynn*  I  never 
doubted  his  hearty  desire  to  be  of  real  service  to  you, 
whenever  it  should  be  in  his  power.  Tell  me  the  de- 
signation of  your  office.  Long  may  you  live  to  fulfil 
its  duties,  and  to  enjoy  the  remuneration  to  which  you 
w'ill  be  rightly  entitled  whenever  you  are  weary  of  them, 
and  choose  to  amuse  yourself  in  your  own  way  for  the 
rest  of  your  life. 

Poor  GifFord  !  The  state  of  his  health  must  make 
him  think  seriously  of  appointing  a  king  of  the  Romans  ; 
and,  between  ourselves,  neither  he  nor  Murray -le-Magne 
are  aware  of  how  much  depends  upon  the  choice.  You 
will  not  let  what  I  am  about  to  say  to  you  go  farther. 
Murray  has  a  great  many  enemies,  especially  in  his 
own  trade  ;  and  the  "  Quarterly  Review  "  has  disgusted 
a  great  many  persons  who  were  by  principle  strongly 
disposed  to  be  its  friends.  They  are  offended  by  its 
wretched  inconsistency  upon  many  points  ;  by  criticisms 
which  are  often  as  ill  tempered  and  unmanly  as  they  are 
unjust ;  and  by  its  silence  concerning  Lord  Byron,  which 
is  not  the  less  scandalous  in  such  a  journal,  because 
Murray  is  implicated  with  him  in  the  disgrace  which 
must  attach  to  every  person  concerned  in  bringing 
forth  *'  Don  Juan."  In  the  event  of  GifFord's  deces- 
sion,  or  decease,  a  new  "  Quarterly  Review  "  has  been 
talked  of,  unless  he  should  be  succeeded  by  a  person 
who  would  make  the  existing  one  what  it  ought  to  be 
in  point  of  consistency,  and  high,  uncompromising  prin- 
ciple. That  it  may  be  started  with  advantage,  A.  is 
ready  to  move  to  the  west  end  of  the  town  ;  and  I  am 
assured  that  if  I  would  take  the  management,  he  would 
secure  me  500/.  a  year,  give  me  half  the  profits  above 
that  sum,  whatever  they  might  be,  and  vest  the  copy- 

*  "It  was  not."     Note  in  G.  C.  B.'s  handwritinjr. 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  337 

right  in  me.  Coadjutors  on  which  I  could  rely,  and 
such  as  I  should  choose,  are  ready.  This  has  been 
comnuuiicated  to  me  by  John  Coleridge.  My  wish  is 
that  he  should  be  Gilford's  successor;  and  upon  this 
point  I  wrote  to  GifFord,  as  he  has  probably  told  you. 
Should  that  arrangement  take  place,  this  scheme  falls 
to  the  ground  at  once  ;  otherwise  —  though  it  is  by 
no  means  likely  that  I  should  accede  to  it,  so  as  to 
change  my  residence  and  act  as  editor — it  is  very  pro- 
bable that  it  will  be  tried.  And  the  "  Quarterly  Re- 
view "  might  be  as  much  shaken  by  it  as  the  "Edin- 
burgh "  has  been  by  the  "  Quarterly  Review." 

I  have  returned  no  answer  to  John  Coleridge  ;  be- 
cause, though  it  would  be  far  more  congenial  to  my 
habits,  desires,  and  feelings  to  withdraw  from  periodical 
and  temporary  literature  altogether,  rather  than  engao-3 
in  it  more  deeply,  still  the  prospect  of  a  certain  income 
is  not  hastily  to  be  rejected  by  one  whose  means  are  so 
precarious  as  mine,  at  my  age.  Murray's  conduct  has 
not  been  such  as  to  make  me  feel  bound  to  him  in  the 
slightest  degree ;  and  no  future  editor  shall  ever  treat 
my  papers  as  GifFord  has  done. 

Enough  of  tliis.  Pray  send  me  the  remaining  sheets 
of  my  first  volume,  that  I  may  get  it  put  in  boards, 
and  enjoy  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  it  complete,  and  in 
a  tangible  shape.  At  j^resent  I  am  working  (hard  as 
any  clerk  in  a  public  office  after  a  motion  for  papers) 
upon  a  boxful  of  papers  from  Frere  ;  all  which  I  have 
to  read  and  exenterate,  not  to  use  so  coarse  a  word  as 
gut.  As  soon  as  the  task  is  performed,  the  second 
volume  will  go  on  briskly.  I  am  keeping  up  my  course 
of  exercise  in  due  obedience  to  Osiris.  How  should  I 
ever  do  this  in  a  tame  country  ?  To-day  I  have  been 
up  Latrigg;  yesterday,  along  the  terrace  which  runs 
under  Skiddaw ;   the  day  before,  up  Walla  Woods,   to 

VOL.    III.  Z 


338  LETTERS    OP  1822. 

the  summit  of  the  crag.  The  improvement  in  my 
health  is  surprising.  At  present,  indeedj  I  am  once 
more  a  sound  man. 

Thank  God  we  are  all  well.  I  wish  you  could  see 
your  god-son,  the  archbishop-in-rus.  I  am  learning 
Danish,  and  take  a  good  dose  of  Dutch  every  night 
after  supper  with  my  black-currant  rum  ;  and  I  am  as 
noisy  as  ever  —  a  sure  sign  that  all  within  is  well. 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  Grosvenor. 

R.  S. 


To  the  R'lcjJit  Hon.  C.  W.  W,  Wynn,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Oct.  26.  1822. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

If  the  scheme  for  uniting  Spain  and  Portugal 
should  take  ell'ect,  it  is  more  likely  to  be  under  a  repub- 
lican than  a  kingly  government.  Such  a  termination  I 
thought  likely  at  the  commencement  of  these  troubles 
fourteen  years  ago,  and  thought  it  also  the  consumma- 
tion to  be  wished,  looking  both  upon  the  Bourbon  and 
and  Braganzan  races  as  effete  ;  thinking  that  such  a  con- 
nection required  no  sacrifice  of  feeling  on  the  part  of 
Portugal,  and  that  when  the  general  Government  of 
Spain  was  dissolved,  a  federal  union  of  its  respective 
kingdoms,  each  retaining  or  modifying  its  own  fueros  *' , 
was  the  system  into  which  they  would  most  easily  and 
naturally  fall.  The  aspects  in  Europe  have  so  changed 
since  that  time,  and  the  republican  spirit  which  was  then 
trampled  under  foot  in  France  is  now  so  rampant  every 
where,  that  I  should  be  sorry  to  see  the  course  of  events 
tending  to  that  issue  ;  though,  if  the  Peninsula  alone 
were  concerned,  it  is  perhaps  that  which  might  bring  its 
miseries   soonest  to   an   end.      Eroles  miglit  oppose    a 

*  i.  e.  charters  .and  iirivileges. 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  339 

Braganzan  King  of  Spain  upon  the  same  principle  that 
he  opposed  Joseph  Buonaparte  ;  but  the  same  feeling 
might  not  induce  liim  to  oppose  a  total  change  of  go- 
vernment, which  added  Portugal  to  Spain,  and  restored 
to  his  own  principality  all  its  proud  old  privileges.  I 
think,  if  I  were  a  Spaniard  or  a  Portuguese,  that  this 
would  be  my  aim ;  but  as  an  Englishman,  and  regard- 
ing the  question  as  it  would  affect  the  whole  of  Europe 
(where  the  tendency  is  certainly  down  the  hill  of  demo- 
cracy), I  should  grieve  to  see  it. 

My  brother  Henry,  who  sees  a  good  deal  of  the  Por- 
tuf^uese  in  London,  knows  more  of  their  views  and  noli- 
tics  than  I  do.  They  have  in  Joam  VI.  an  easy  man,  of 
good  faith,  whom  they  can  govern,  and  whom  they  can 
trust.  Ferdinand  is  truly  a  wretch,  unworthy  of  com- 
passion, even  in  his  present  miserable  condition.  I  wish 
he  had  no  brothers,  for  in  that  case  I  should  heartily 
assent  to  the  fitness  of  shutting  him  up  in  a  convent, 
and  giving  the  King  of  Portugal  the  crown  in  right  of 
his  wife. 

By  us  at  least  they  must  be  left  to  themselves,  and  I 
hope  France  will  not  interfere.  Such  interference  may 
be  deeply  injurious,  in  more  ways  than  one.  Suppose 
it  were  successful, —  Ferdinand  would  then  hold  his 
authority  only  by  the  support  of  France,  and  the  evil 
which  you  apprehend,  that  of  Spain's  becoming  in  effect  a 
province  of  France  *,  would  at  once  be  brought  about. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  a  formidable  resistance  were  made 
by  the  aid  of  Portugal,  the  republican  party  would 
thereby  acquire  the  power  of  effecting  their  designs,  and 
when  that  train  is  fired,  who  can  tell  how  far  the  explo- 
sion will  reach?  The  Portuguese  have  an  efficient 
army  ;  with  British  officers  they  would  beattlie  French; 

*  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  refer  to  the  policy  of  Louis  riiilippe 

— and  his  fall ! 

Z  2 


340  LETTERS    OF  1822. 

without  them  I  think  they  would  have  a  fair  chance. 
But  they  would  obtain  adventurers  from  England  as 
easily  as  the  South  Americans  have  done.  And  how- 
ever much  the  French  King  may  wish  to  rid  himself  of 
disaffected  troops,  he  had  better  keep  them  in  France, 
and  take  his  chance  for  fifty  such  conspiracies  as  Ber- 
lin's, than  engage  them  in  another  Peninsular  war. 

I  have  not  seen  the  "Liberal,"  but  a  Leeds  paper  has 
been  sent  me,  containing  an  account  of  it,  and  including 
among  its  extracts  the  description  and  behaviour  of  a 
certain  "  varlet."  He  has  certainly  not  offended  me  in 
the  way  that  the  pious  painter  exasperated  the  Devil. 
As  for  the  slander,  it  is  not  worth  an  angry  feeling,  and 
has  not  excited  a  painful  or  an  uncomfortable  one. 
Other  parts  seem  to  be  as  disgusting  as  brutality  and 
impiety  can  make  them. 

I  have  been  reviewing  Gregoire's  "  Hist,  des  Sectes 
Religieuses,"  and  have  left  his  account  of  the  Theophi- 
lanthropists  to  form  part  of  another  paper  upon  the 
growth  and  prevalence  of  infidelity.  If  Gifford  will  let 
me,  I  may  probably  touch  upon  the  "  Liberal"  here, 
and  show  Lord  Byron  that  there  can  be  no  better  pre- 
paratory exercise  for  writing  the  memoirs  of  the  Devil 
than  by  attempting  a  sketch  of  his  Lordship's  own  cha- 
racter and  conduct. 

Of  late  I  have  been  chiefly  employed  upon  Frere's 
papers,  and  have  gone  through  about  half  of  them.  Sir 
K.  ^Vilson's  correspondence  amused  me  a  good  deal. 
With  what  a  humiliating  feeling  will  he  read  what  I 
shall  have  to  write  concerning  him,  the  right  spirit  with 
which  he  acted,  and  the  real  services  whicli  he  per- 
formed, when  in  his  own  words  his  collar  was  making 
for  him  hij  that  skilful  neck-twister  Napoleon.  There 
are  several  letters  from  Mayne,  and  very  bad  ones  they 
are.  Doyle's  I  have  not  yet  begun  upon,  but  I  have 
seen  a  good  many  of  his  among  Sir  Hew  Dalrymplc's 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  341 

papers.  Whittingham  appears  to  have  been  very  much 
the  ablest  of  our  oflicers  who  were  in  the  Spanish 
service. 

To  day  I  have  received  an  importation  of  American 
books  from  Ticknor,  the  professor  of  modern  langiiage 
at  Hurward  College,  one  of  the  best  informed  men  I 
ever  became  acquainted  with.  There  is  among  them 
the  "  Idle  Man,"  said  to  be  the  best  of  many  imitations 
of  the  "  Sketch  Book,"  a  volume  of  "  Travels  to  the 
Sources  of  the  Mississippi,"  and  old  Dr.  Dwight's 
"  Travels  in  New  England  and  New  York,"  a  posthu- 
mous work  in  four  full  octavos.  I  have  begun  upon 
this,  and  find  in  it  a  great  deal  of  curious  observation. 
If  GifTord  had  not  taken  that  offensive  and  mischievous 
tone  in  the  "Review"  concerning  America,  I  could 
have  drawn  up  for  him  a  very  interesting  paper  from 
this  book.  There  is  also  "  A  New  England  Tale," 
curious  as  a  picture  of  manners,  and  in  itself  very  much 
above  mediocrity,  but  sadly  injured  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  crazy  woman  in  imitation  of  Walter  Scott's 
novels. 

About  Hastings's  Life  I  have  nothing  to  say,  ex- 
cept that  they  wish  me  to  see  a  Mr.  Baber  before  he 
selects  the  papers  which  are  to  be  put  into  my  hands, 
and  that  this  Mr.  Baber  appears  to  have  some  very 
injudicious  notions  about  keeping  back  whatever  relates 
to  Hastings's  private  history  and  character.  This  would 
be  unwise,  even  if  the  work  to  be  compiled  were  a  his- 
tory of  his  administration,  but  especially  one  when  it  is 
to  be  his  life.  However,  for  the  sake  of  seeing  him,  I 
must  visit  London  early  in  the  spring.  I  should  have 
done  so  without  this  matter  of  business,  on  account  of 
my  uncle.  His  age  is  now  such  that  the  usual  intervals 
between  my  visits  ought  to  be  shortened.  The  two 
poems  are  in  statu  quo,  except  that  in  my  yesterday's 

z  3 


342  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

walk   some   improvement    was    made    in    the    plan    of 
"  Oliver  Newman." 

The  "  Book  of  the  Church"  is  in  the  press,  and  will  be 
published  before  I  set  off  for  town,  which  will  be  at  the 
end  of  February,  or  early  in  March.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Bight  Hon.  C.  W.  W.  Wynn,  M.P. 

Nov.  2.  1 822. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Who  should  succeed  Lord  Liverpool  if  he  were 
about  to  retire,  would  be  to  me  a  matter  of  less  interest 
than  who  shall  succeed  poor  Gilford  as  the  editor  of 
the  "  Q.  R.,"  in  case  of  his  death,  or  of  his  inability  to 
continue  in  that  office.  The  latter  probability  he  men- 
tioned to  me  some  weeks  ago,  and  likewise  how  totally 
at  a  loss  he  was  where  to  look  for  one  who  might  supply 
his  place.  I  mentioned  John  Coleridge  to  him,  and 
have  mentioned  him  to  Murray  also.  I  have  some 
reason  to  think  that  GifFord  inclines  to  my  opinion,  for 
he  has  had  a  conversation  with  him  upon  the  difficulties 
of  an  editor's  task,  &c.  ;  and  though  he  said  nothing 
which  in  any  way  committed  himself,  yet  he  would  not 
have  entered  upon  that  subject,  and  into  it  as  he  did,  if 
my  suggestion  had  been  totally  dismissed.  One  thing 
which  he  said  was,  that  his  successor  must  be  a  man  in 
whom  the  Government  could  feel  confidence,  because 
of  the  assistance  which  they  afforded  in  the  way  of  do- 
cuments from  the  public  offices.  And  this  leads  me  to 
mention  the  subject  to  you. 

There  is  no  question  about  his  abilities,  acquire- 
ments, habits,  and  principles;  but  he  possesses,  in  an 
eminent  degree,   discretion,  a  sound  judgment,  and  a 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUXnEY.  343 

right  feeling.  I  am  sure  he  woukl  never  admit  any- 
thing which  shoukl  lower  the  Review, — nothing  of  that 
mere  insolence  which  has  so  often  disgraced  it,  and 
brought  it  down  to  the  level  of  the  "  Edinburgh." 

The  choice  is  a  matter  of  more  consequence  than 
Murray  is  aware  of.  Murray  is  very  much  disliked  by 
the  trade.  They  would  delight  in  injuring  him  ;  and 
(this  is  between  ourselves)  the  project  of  starting  a  new 
•'  Quarterly,"  upon  the  same  principles,  has  been  thought 
of.  I  do  not  wish  to  see  this,  because  it  would  weaken 
the  effect  which  the  "  Quarterly"  now  produces;  and  it  is 
better  to  have  one  efficient  journal  of  this  kind  than  to 
divide  its  power.  But  if  it  were  made  unexceptionable 
in  its  tone  and  temper,  and  consistent  in  its  views,  I  am 
sure  its  influence  would  be  greatly  increased.  For 
myself,  it  would  be  a  great  satisfaction  to  have  an 
editor  who  would  not  mutilate  my  papers  without  con- 
sulting me. 

But  I  must  conclude.  I  have  said  this  to  you  that 
you  may  know  what  my  wishes  arc  upon  the  subject, — 
which,  though  not  a  matter  of  state,  is  one  which,  no 
doubt,  you  will  hear  talked  of;  and  in  which,  very 
possibly,  your  opinion  may  have  some  weight. 

God  bless  you. 

R/.  S. 


To  John  Hickman,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Nov.  3,  1822. 

My  dear  R., 

My  mornings  for  the  last  three  weeks  have  been 
pretty  closely  employed  upon  Frere's  papers,  which 
will  occupy  a  fortnight  yet  before  I  shall  have  got 
through  them.     They  gave  me  all  the  information  of 

z  4 


344  LETTERS    OF  1822. 

■which  I  was  in  want  for  that  stage  of  the  war  on  which 
my  materials  were  most  defective. 

Poor  GifTord's  life  is  so  precarious  at  this  time,  and 
the  probability  of  his  being  unable  to  conduct  the 
"  Q.  R.,"  even  if  he  recovers,  so  great,  that  the  question 
of  the  succession  becomes  of  some  interest  to  me.  I 
wish  John  Coleridge  to  be  the  editor,  —  being  a  man 
who  unites  in  himself  all  the  requisites,  and  with  whom 
I  could  act  cordially.  Unless  I  am  very  much  mistaken, 
the  character  of  the  Journal  could  be  raised,  and  its 
influence  greatly  increased,  by  the  firm  and  consistent 
language  which  it  would  hold  under  his  management, 
and  the  utter  exclusion  of  such  splenetic  eiFusions  as 
often  disgrace  it  now. 

The  "  Liberal"  is  quite  what  it  ought  to  be.  If  I 
hated  Lord  Byron  as  deeply  as  he  does  me,  I  could  not 
wish  it  to  be  worse.  It  cannot,  I  think,  reach  a  third 
number,  even  if  it  proceeds  to  a  second,  and  escapes 
prosecution.  They  must  be  thorough-paced  Whigs, 
indeed,  for  whom  it  is  not  too  bad  ;  and,  moreover,  his 
Lordship  and  Leigh  Hunt  will  quarrel  ere  long,  and 
break  up  the  infernal  firm. 

We  are  going  on  well,  thank  God.  Since  my  brother 
left  me,  I  have  settled  regularly  to  my  winter  occupa- 
tions, and  as  regularly  taken  the  daily  exercise  which  he 
pi'escribed.  A  summer's  mountaineering  has  been  of  the 
greatest  benefit  to  mc,  and  I  hope  to  keep  in  the  same 
good  condition  till  you  see  me  early  in  the  spring. 
Remember  us  most  kindly  to  Mrs.  R. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  345 

To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  §t. 

Keswick,  Nov.  17.  1822. 

I  HAVE  got  from  an  Edinburgh  catalogue  a  little 
book  printed  at  Braga,  1624.  "  Musa  Panegyrica  in 
Theodosiuni"  is  the  title,  and  Miguel  Pinto  de  Sousa 
the  author.  Its  rarity  at  least  makes  it  worth  a  new 
coat,  and  the  contents  appear  to  be  curious,  as  showing 
the  strong  feeling  which  at  that  time  prevailed  in  favour 
of  the  Braganzas. 

By  what  I  have  learnt,  I  believe  the  scheme  for 
uniting  Spain  and  Portugal  under  a  Braganzan  king- 
would  be  regarded  by  our  Government  as  desirable,  if 
it  were  feasible.  In  my  opinion  it  cannot  be  brought 
about.  The  Spaniards,  who  wish  to  get  rid  of  their 
wretched  king  (a  wretch  he  is  in  both  senses  of  the 
word),  have  no  wish  to  substitute  any  other  in  his  place. 
Arguelles  told  Mackenzie  that  he  did  not  like  the 
English  ;  he  wanted  such  English  as  those  in  Oliver 
Cromwell's  days.  The  scheme  would  be  opposed  both 
b}'  the  Republicans,  who  are  the  dominant  faction  at 
Madrid,  by  the  Royalists,  who  are  doubtless  the  great 
majority  of  the  nation,  and  by  those  persons  who  might 
very  willingly  consign  Ferdinand  to  a  convent,  provided 
the  order  of  succession  were  respected,  and  his  brother 
called  to  the  throne  in  his  stead  ;  a  measure  quite  as 
necessary  here  as  it  was  supposed  to  be  in  the  case  of 
Alfonso  VI.  And  this,  I  think,  would  be  the  compro- 
mise which  foreign  interference  mitrht  effect. 

I  am  using  my  influence  to  get  John  Coleridge  chosen 
King  of  the  Romans,  upon  the  demise  or  abdication  of 
the  Emperor  Gifford.  For  poor  Gifford  himself,  I 
heartily  wish  he  may  live  as  long  as  he  thinks  life  de- 
sirable ;  but  I  shall  be  very  glad  if  he  withdraws  from 


346  LETTERS   OF  1822, 

the  "  Review,"  and  consigns  it  to  a  more  temperate  and 
judicious  editor,  who  will  conduct  it  consistently,  and  in 
a  proper  spirit.  If  J.  Coleridge  has  it,  it  will  no  longer 
blow  hot  and  cold.  It  is  very  likely  to  pass  into  his 
hands  ;  if  it  does,  my  papers  will  not  be  mutilated  in 
future,  nor  will  they  be  postponed  to  a  following  num- 
ber sometimes,  when  I  have  calculated  upon  their 
appearance. 

To  have  taken  the  management  myself  would,  I 
think,  have  been  sacrificing  more  than  I  ought  for  an 
increase  of  income,  which,  all  things  considered,  must 
have  been  rather  nominal  than  real.  A  residence  near 
Tiondon  would  increase  my  expenditure  one  half  at 
least,  and  certainly  cut  off  more  than  half  my  enjoy- 
ments. The  "  Review  "  already  consumes  more  time 
than  I  like  to  bestow  upon  it;  and  the  task  of  editing  it 
would  consume  a  great  deal  more,  much  more  unplea- 
santly employed.  Besides,  no  person  can  think  less  of 
my  qualifications  for  managing  anything  than  I  do 
myself:  the  whole  habits  of  my  life  have  tended  to  foster 
rather  than  correct  an  inaptitude  and  dislike  to  what- 
ever has  an  appearance  of  business. 

Writing  not  long  ago  to  Murray  in  strong  reprehen- 
sion of  the  mischievous   papers   concerning  America,  I 
told  him  "that  if  it  had  not  been  for  those  papers,  I 
could  now  have  drawn  up  for  him  an  interesting  article 
from  some  new  American  books."     His  High  mightiness 
requests  that  I  would  so  do,  "  sliding,  he  says,  as  gently 
as  you  can  into  the  new  tone,  so  as  not  to  appear  too 
abrupt,  and   as  j)reparatory  to  the   proper  feelings  in 
future."     In  truth,  the  "Review"  has  been  wretchedly 
mismanaged.     What  can  be  more  pitiful  than  the  whole 
conduct  concerning  Lord  Byron, —  and  this  last  miser- 
able business  of  entering  into  a  defence  of  Shakespeare, 
and  of  the  system  of  Providence  against  the  author  of 
"  Cain  ? "     It  was  quite  proper  that  the  "  Liberal"  and 


1822. 


K015ERT    SOUTIIEY.  347 


this  tribute  of  adulation  should  make  their  appearance 
at  the  same  time. 

We  have  been  edified  at  church  this  morning  with 
the  new  marriage  act,  a  production  upon  which  I  must 
not  congratulate  Philliniore  wi)en  I  see  him  next. 
However,  I  believe  that  the  troublesome  and  absurd 
part  of  its  enactments  are  none  of  his. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  from  General  Peachey  that  Mr. 
Audrey  keeps  his  situation.  Bedford  has  lately  succeeded 
to  the  highest  situation  in  his  department  of  the  Exche- 
quer, after  one-and-thirty  years  service  for  it.  He  has 
got  the  prize  for  which  he  started,  and  it  has  made  him 
very  happy  for  the  present.     God  bless  you. 


To  Dr.  H.  H.  Southey. 

Keswick,  Nov.  25.  1822. 

My  dear  Harry, 

I  do  not  recollect  whether  I  have  given  you  joy 
of  your  son,  or  not ;  for,  without  dwelling  extravagantly 
or  madly  upon  the  subject,  where  there  is  a  fair  prospect 
that  a  child  will  be  foirly  set  forward  in  the  world,  its 
birth  is  a  subject  for  congratulation.  Besides,  it  is  a 
joyful  change  in  a  house  when  all  is  as  well  as  can  be 
expected. 

The  letter  for  Sir  William  Knighton  comes  herewith. 
Will  you  tell  Murray  where  a  copy  can  be  directed  to 
Haygarth,  to  whom  one  is  due  for  some  materials 
which  he  communicated. 

If  the  King  would  make  me  a  present  of  the  publi- 
cations of  the  Record  Committee,  they  would  be  well 
bestowed.  I  want  too  many  costly  books  for  my  histo- 
rical pursuits,  and  these  are  among  them.     Wherever 


348  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

original  documents  are  within  my  reach,  I  go  to  them, 
and  it  is  surprising  how  much  I  find  there  which  has 
"been  overlooked.  My  gleanings  are  often  worth  more 
than  tlie  harvest  of  those  who  have  been  before  me. 
S(;mething  of  this  you  will  see  in  the  "  Book  of  the 
Churcli,"  at  whicii  I  have  been  chiefly  employed  since 
your  departure. 

You  must  know  more  concerning  the  ''  Q.  K."  at 
this  time  than  I  do.  A  note  from  Murray  some  fort- 
night ago  let  me  know  that  he  was  well  disposed  to- 
wards John  Coleridge,  and  waited  till  he  could  talk 
with  Gifford  upon  the  subject  ;  and  I  have  heard  nothing 
since  from  any  quarter.  If  he  understood  his  own  in- 
terest, there  could  not  be  a  moment's  hesitation.  What 
with  GifFord's  indifference  in  all  matters  of  taste  (when, 
if  lie  had  any  leaning,  it  was  to  the  wrong  side),  with 
his  admission  of  mischievous  articles  such  as  those  re- 
lating to  America,  and  of  the  Sermons  of  the  Dean  of 
Westminster  (to  whom  I  ascribe  the  discourse  on  Lord 
Byron  in  the  last  number),  and  what  with  the  disgraceful 
temper  in  which  some  of  his  own  papers  were  written, 
the  "  Review  "  must  surely  decline  as  rapidly  as  it  had 
risen. 

There  is  a  passage  from  my  tender  epistle  quoted  in 
the  last  number.  It  is  curious  that  that  very  passage 
should  have  been  originally  tvritten  for  the  "  Beview" 
and  struck  out  of  it  by  the  editor. 

I  will  tell  you  another  anecdote.  Lord  Holland  has 
lately  edited  Sir  Charles  Hanbury  William's  "  Poems." 
They  were  put  into  my  hands  for  that  purpose  in  1802, 
and  I  refused  to  have  any  part  in  bringing  them  out, 
because  of  their  profligacy. 

Your  precepts  have  been  observed  as  regularly  as  a 
scries  of  dreadfully  tempestuous  weather  would  let 
me,  —  at  some  expense  of  time,  but  with  less  effort,  as 
it  became  a  habit.     I  was  over  the  Dod  some  ten  days 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  349 

ago  with  Senhouse.  The  boat  is  now  laid  upon  tlie 
island,  not  having  been  used  since  your  departure ;  for 
there  literally  has  not  been  one  day  pleasant  enough 
for  ffoins?  on  the  water. 

I  should  be  very  glad  to  hear  of  John  Coleridge's 
accession,  which,  if  GifFord  continues  to  be  incapaci- 
tated, cannot  be  deferred  much  longer.  To-day  I  have 
a  letter  from  John  May,  dated  Falmouth,  ...  it  contains 
a  promise  of  strong  beer,  for  which  you  know  I  liave  a 
weakness.  Never  was  man  more  mistaken  in  his 
prognosis  tlian  Chauncey  Townsend's  father,  when  he 
supposed  me  to  be  a  water-drinker.  I  have  a  proper 
taste  for  all  pleasant  liquors,  in  their  place  and  season, 
—  from  bottled  twopenny  in  the  heat  of  summer,  up  to 
the  purest  whiskey  "  unexcised  by  kings."  But  Rhenish 
wine  is  best,  and  so  Pindar  would  have  said  if  he  had 
ever  tasted  it. 

Our  love  to  all.      God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rkjht  Hon,  C.  IF.  IV.  Wynn,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Nov.  25.  1822. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  am  glad  to  see  some  "  Cymmrodorion  Transac- 
tions" advertised,  and  shall  send  for  the  volume.  What 
a  surprising  difference  there  is  between  the  Welsh  and 
Scandinavian  poems!  partly,  because  the  Welsh  were 
divided  toto  ah  orhe,  while  the  northern  nations  were 
more  or  less  connected  with  it.  I  have  felt  this  differ- 
ence very  strongly  of  late,  while  reading  the  second 
volume  of  the  "  Edda,"  published,  for  the  first  time, 
four  years  ago. 

I  am,  indeed,  gradually  acquiring  some  insight  into 


350  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

the  northern  languages,  the  better  to  qualify  myself  for 
writing  a  history  of  English  literature  and  manners,  — 
subjects  which,  according  to  my  present  view,  may  best 
be  united  as  relieving  and  throwing  light  upon  each 
other.  My  notes  have  been  accumulating  for  many 
years. 

Has  O'Connor  published  his  second  volume  ? 

Foreign  interference  in  the  affairs  of  Spain  would  be 
desirable,  if  it  could  be  effectual  —  which  I  think  it 
could  not  be.  Suppose  a  French  army  were  to  reach 
Madrid,  rescue  Ferdinand,  head  and  all,  and  re-establish 
him  as  absolute  king,  or  as  a  chartered  one,  I  neither 
see  how  he  could  support  himself,  nor  who  could  sup- 
port him  ;  for  the  country  wovild  continue  in  a  state  of 
anarchy,  and  he  would  find  himself  without  a  revenue. 
Spain  can  never  be  reduced  to  order  till  it  has  a  strong 
government;  but  such  a  government  must  be  able  to 
maintain  a  strong  army,  and  the  resources  by  which 
this  should  be  done  are  absolutely  dry. 

You,  I  think,  are  among  those  persons  who  will  feel 
that  it  would  have  been  unwise  in  me  to  have  taken 
Giflbrd's  place.  It  would  have  given  me  a  certain,  in- 
stead of  a  precarious,  income  ;  but  the  discomfort  of  a 
removal,  the  necessary  increase  of  expenditure,  and, 
above  all,  the  great  sacrifice  which  must  have  been 
made  of  worthier  pursuits,  would  heavily  have  over- 
balanced this  advantage.  This  last  consideration  alone 
would  be  decisive  :  John  Coleridge  is  also  a  much 
fitter  man  than  I  should  have  been  ;  he  knows  better 
how  to  deal  with  men,  and  he  has  more  discretion. 

God  bless  you. 
R.  S. 


1822.  EGBERT    SOUTllEY.  351 

To  the  Right  Hon.  C.  IF.  W.  Wynn,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Dec  15,  1822. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  shall  be  very  much  obliged  to  you  both  for 
the  "  Cambro-Briton,"  ar.d  the  *'  Cymmrodorion  Trans- 
actions." They  may  very  likely  afford  me  hints  for  the 
ode  which  you  desired,  and  which  I  am  the  more  bound 
to  produce,  having  handled  the  Scotch,  ex  officio^  this 
year,  as  (God  forgive  me  !)  I  did  the  Irish  the  last. 
You  see  I  put  my  Welsh  honours  in  my  title-page,  and 
that  my  name  has  now  a  tolerably  long  tail. 

How  much  it  would  have  gratified  me  to  have  been 
at  your  christening  !  Old  friends  and  old  books  are  the 
best  things  that  this  world  affords  (I  like  old  wine  also), 
and  in  these  I  am  richer  than  most  men  (the  wine  ex- 
cepted). I  have  now  known  you,  and  Bedford,  and 
Strachey,  four-and-thirty  years.  When  I  look  at  our 
respective  lots  in  life,  yours  and  Dapple's  are  regularly 
what  they  ought  to  be  —  mine,  also,  is  what  it  should 
be,  though  the  course  has  been  an  erratic  one. 
Strachey,  I  think,  might  have  been  as  well  off  in  for- 
tune, and  better  in  other  respects,  if  he  had  not  spent 
the  best  years  of  his  life  in  India.  Made  for  domestic 
life  as  he  is,  he  ought  to  have  been  a  married  man. 

Elmsley  is  right  in  not  sacrificing  the  enjoyment  of 
his  books  and  his  friends.  I  marvel  that  any  man  will 
sacrifice  a  leisure  which  he  is  able  to  enjoy,  except  from 
a  sense  of  duty.  Middleton  is  a  great  loss.  That 
establishment  was  made  with  too  niggardly  a  hand,  and 
much  more  was  required  from  Middleton  than  was  any- 
ways reasonable.  If  Elmsley  had  gone  to  India,  I 
should  have  had  a  large  episcopal  acquaintance.  The 
new  Irish  bishop,  Jebb,  is  an  acquaintance  of  mine, 
and  one  for  whom  I  have  a  very  high  respect. 


352  LETTERS    OF  1822. 

I  am  looking  through  D'IsraeU's  "  New  Curiosities." 
He  is  a  man  whom  I  generally  dine  with  when  I  visit 
London.  An  oddly-furnished  head  he  has,  and  an  odd 
sort  of  creature  he  is  altogether;  —  thoroughly  good- 
natured, —  the  strangest  mixture  of  information  and 
ignorance,  cleverness  and  folly.  Having  ceased  to  be  a 
Jew  himself,  without  becoming  a  Christian,  he  has, 
happily  for  his  children,  allowed  Sharon  Turner  to  take 
them  quietly  to  Church  and  have  them  christened. 

Of  forthcoming  books,  there  is  none  which  I  am  so 
desirous  to  see  as  Sir  John  Malcolm's, — part  of  which 
he  showed  me  when  he  was  on  his  way  to  London  in 
the  summer. 

Dibdin  has  written  to  ask  if  I  am  willing  to  under- 
take a  continuation  of  Warton's  "  History  of  Poetry  ;  " 
and  I  expect  to  receive  proposals  from  the  publisher, 
whoever  he  may  be.  If  they  are  such  as  may  enable 
me  to  draw  off  from  reviewing,  I  shall  be  disposed  to 
accept  them. 

1  am  learning  Danish,  and  reading  Dutch  poetry. 
That  I  should  get  a  great  deal  from  Dutch  history  you 
will  not  wonder;  but  you  will  wonder  that  I  should 
get  any  thing  from  their  poetry.  I  trace,  however,  old 
Joshua  Sylvester  there,  and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
Milton  also.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford^  Esq. 

Keswick,  Dec.  7.  1822. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

You    will    deliver    me    from    one    of   the    evils 
of  this  world,  if  you  will  send  me  some  money. 

It  is  a  long  while  since  I  liave  heard  from  you,  or, 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  353 

indeed,  from  any  person  in  town.  My  last  news  of 
poor  Gifford  was  a  report  from  my  uncle  that  he  was 
still  very  ill;  and  the  last  notice  I  had  of  the  "  Quar- 
terly Review,"  was  in  a  letter  from  the  Land's  End,  say- 
ing it  was  all  but  settled  that  John  Coleridge  should 
become  the  editor ;  but  this  was  good  authority  coming 
from  John  ]\Iay,  who  is  as  intimate  with  him  as  I  am 
with  you.  However  desirable  it  might  be  for  me  to 
have  obtained  a  certain  income  adequate  to  my  expend- 
iture (and,  God  knows,  desirable  it  would  be  !),  yet  I 
am  perfectly  satisfied  that  I  decided  rightly  in  not  seek- 
ing to  obtain  the  editorship  for  myself;  and  of  this,  I 
believe,  the  few  persons  by  whose  judgment  I  could 
wish  to  have  my  own  confirmed,  agree  with  me.  Just 
now  I  am  out  of  humour,  because  I  am  working  at  the 
Ode,  the  motto  for  which  ought  always  to  be  Odi.  You 
will  see  my  description  of  Lodore  enlarged  and  much 
improved,  in  an  eleemosynary  volume  edited  by  Joanna 
Baillie,  where  you  will  see  also  some  stanzas  written  for 
Lady  Lonsdale's  album,  placed  where  you  will  see  them, 
not  by  my  own  choice,  but  at  Miss  Baillie's  desire.  The 
stanza  is  to  my  ear  singularly  pleasing,  the  verses  not 
discreditable, — the  utmost  that  can  be  expected  in  com- 
positions of  this  kind,  which  diflfer  from  compositions 
only  as  a  forced  loan  does  from  a  tax.  That  family 
shows  me  great  civilities,  which  1  acknowledge  so  much 
less  than  I  ought  to  do,  in  the  way  of  visiting  them,  that 
I  was  the  more  ready  to  show  my  sense  of  their  atten- 
tion in  this  manner. 

I  am  getting  on  with  the  "  Book  of  the  Church," 
which  said  book  must  perform  the  service  of  carrying 
me  on  my  spring  journey,  and  aiding  largely  the  next 
year's  ways  and  means ;  for  I  mean,  if  possible,  to  keep 
the  proceeds  of  the  history  untouched,  that  part  ex- 
cepted which  will  be  adventured  with  Westall  upon  the 
drawings  from  Roderick,  —  a  secret  (remember)  whicli 

VOL.  III.  A    A 


354  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

is  strictly  confined  to  you,  no  otlier  person  whatsoever 
being  acquainted  with  it  by  me. 

If  you  do  not  visit  me  next  summer,  you  ought  never 
to  be  forgiven.  I  quite  long  to  have  you  here :  there 
are  so  many  things  which  I  should  like  to  show  you,  and 
which  you  would  delight  in  seeing.  Moreover,  there 
will  be  strong  beer,  worthy  of  the  gods,  and  Lightfoot 
is  going  to  send  me  a  cask  of  cider,  which  he  makes,  and 
which  I  hope  to  drink,  with  great  success.  If  it  be  as 
good  as  himself,  it  cannot  be  better. 

Remember  me  to  Miss  Page  and  Henry. 

God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Dec.  15.  1822. 
My  dear  Grosvenor, 

Mackenzie  enabled  me  to  make  the  narrative  of 
Romana's  escape  as  complete  as  you  see  it, — by  deliver- 
ing to  me  in  writing  what  he  related  to  me  at  Paris.* 
To  Sir  Augustus  Fraser  I  am  obliged,  through  his 
brother-in-law,  Major  Moor,  for  the  largest  body  of 
communications  which  I  have  been  able  to  obtain,  con- 
sisting of  a  series  of  his  letters  describing  the  whole 
progress  of  the  army  while  he  was  with  it  from  1810  to 
the  end  of  the  war,  transcribed  into  a  large  volume, 
with  plans,  &c.,  as  at  one  time  intended  for  publication, 
— an  intention,  I  believe,  laid  aside  in  part  because  of 
the  announcement  of  my  undertaking.  Certainly  I 
shall  derive  more  advantage  from  these  letters  than 
from  any  other  series  of  documents.  You  will  therefore 
allow  that  both  Sir  Augustus  (whom  I  have  never  seen) 
and  Major  Moor  (who  transcribed  the  letters,  and  offered 
them  to  me)  arc  richly  entitled  to  this  return.     I  think 

*  "Paris,  May  19.  1817.  Dined  with  Mackenzie,"  &c. —iW^". 
Journal, 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  355 

I  mentioned  in  my  list  that  both  copies  should  be  con- 
signed to  Longman's  care,  he  being  Moor's  publisher. 
Moor  is  author  of  the  "Hindoo  Pantheon,"  and  of 
course  intimate  with  my  friends  Yamen,  Seeva,  &c. 

Now  for  Herries.  Though  I  am  indebted  to  him  for 
many  civilities,  I  should  not,  on  that  score  alone,  send 
him  a  book  which  he  would  otherwise  buy  without  hesi- 
tation. But  there  are  things  relating  to  his  own  de- 
partment, for  which  in  the  subsequent  volumes  I  shall 
want  information  from  him. 

My  dear  Grosvenor,  more  than  half  that  eleemosynary 
list  consists  of  persons  without  whose  aid  the  book  could 
not  have  been  composed,  e.  g.  Marquis  Wellesley,  Whit- 
tingham,  Frere  and  his  brother,  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple, 
&c.  &;c.,  and  these  as  much  belong  to  the  charges  of  the 
work,  as  the  printer's  or  stationer's  bill.  From  ten  to 
twelve  copies  stand  on  the  score  of  private  feeling,  and 
will  be  received  either  as  acknowledgments  for  kindness, 
or  as  memorials  of  friendship,  carrying  with  them  in 
either  case  an  ideal  value,  which  you  very  well  know 
how  to  appreciate.  I  have,  God  knows,  received  a  great 
many  acts  of  kindness,  none  of  which  I  have  ever  for- 
gotten. But  I  shall  go  out  of  the  world  on  the  debtor 
side  of  this  account  at  last,  not  for  want  of  will,  but  of 
means ! 

As  for  your  own  copy,  pay  me  for  it  by  giving  me  a 
good  portrait  of  yourself,  in  place  of  the  ill  hkeness 
which  poor  Nash  made  ! 

God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  8{c. 

Keswick,  Dec.  17.  1822. 
I  HAD   not  forgotten   Scheffer's  "  Swecia  Literata  ;" 
but  as  that  book  is  nearly  a  century  and  half  old,  I  re- 


A  A   2 


356  LETTERS    OF  1822. 

gretted  that  the  Swedes  and  Danes  should  so  much 
"  contempt"  each  other,  as  to  jorevent  the  union  of 
their  writers  in  one  Bibliotheca.  The  Danish  is  not  a 
difficult  language.  I  have  been  expecting  for  several 
years  the  publication  of  the  "  Saxon  Chronicle,"  which 
is  to  have  a  grammar  prefixed  to  it,  meaning  whenever 
it  came  out  to  set  about  acquiring  that  language  ;  but 
it  seems  I  shall  be  a  Dane  first.  If  I  were  an  idle  man, 
one  of  my  amusements  would  be  to  fill  the  margin  of 
"Johnson's  Dictionary."  I  find  the  Portuguese  ^wa  in 
my  Danish  dictionary  Arnme*,  a  nurse. 

Augustus  Hare,  whom  you  may  have  seen  at  his 
aunt's,  Lady  Jones's,  told  me  as  good  a  story  of  our  old 
acquaintance,  St.  Antonio,  as  could  have  been  found  in 
Portugal.  Some  nobleman,  I  forget  who,  was  travelling 
with  an  Italian  servant  who  had  lived  many  years  in  his 
service,  and,  arriving  at  Padua  with  an  intention  of  im- 
mediately proceeding  on  his  journey,  the  servant  de- 
clared that  he  must  stop  awhile,  even  if  he  left  his 
master's  service,  to  say  his  prayers  to  St.  Antonio.  The 
master  was  attached  to  him,  and  humoured  him,  and, 
hearing  that  his  object  was  to  pray  that  St.  Antonio 
would  intercede  with  the  Almighty  for  him,  without 
which  he  thought  it  impossible  to  be  saved,  asked  him, 
"  What  he  had  done  during  so  many  years  in  England?" 
"  Oh  !  "  he  replied,  *'  when  I  am  in  England,  I  pray  to 
God  to  intercede  for  me  with  St.  Antonio  !  " 

The  "  Acta  S.S."  exhibits  a  picture  of  St.  Antonio's 
loiKjue,  as  set  in  gold,  among  the  many  curious  portraits 
ejusdem  generis  which  this  marvellous  work  contains. 

*  It  is  Icelandic,  also.  See  Rask's  "Icelandic  Dictionary,"  (poor 
Rask,  whom  I  followed  to  his  grave  !)  and  the  Specimen  Glossarii 
to  the  "Edda,"  vol.  ii.  p.  562.,  ed.  4to.  1818.  Erne,  or  Eame, 
i.  e.  uncle,  is  from  the  same  root,  though  we  draw  it  from  the 
Anglo-Saxon.     Spenser  uses  it  after  Chaucer  : 

"  Whilst  they  were  young,  Cassibalane  their  erne 
Was  by  the  people  chosen  in  their  stead,"  &c. 

The  Faerie  Queene,  II.  x.  xlvii. 


18-22.  liOBERT    SOUTUEY.  357 

I  am  now  writing  that  chapter  in  the  "  Book  of  tlie 
Churcli,"  whicli  contains  a  view  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
system,  such  as  you  and  I  know  it  to  be.  It  will  make 
some  persons,  1  trust,  open  their  eyes  ;  but  if  it  does 
not  disabuse  those  who  choose  to  be  deceived,  it  will  at 
least  have  the  good  effect  of  preventing  very  many  from 
being  deluded,  through  their  entire  ignorance  of  the 
subject. 

Dibdin  wrote  to  me  the  other  day,  asking  "  If  I 
should  like  to  continue  '  Wartou's  History  of  Poetry,' 
which  is  about  to  be  re-edited  with  laborious  corrections 
and  notes ! "  My  answer  expressed  a  willingness  to 
hear  what  the  bookseller  might  have  to  propose.  If  his 
terms  should  be  such  as  they  ought  to  be,  Gilford  will 
see  very  little  more  of  my  work.  But  I  must  be  largely 
paid,  or  they  must  look  to  some  other  quarter. 

This  last  week  has  been  odiously  employed  ;  but  I  am 
not  dissatisfied  with  the  production.  There  are  now 
some  half-dozen  of  these  task  poems  by  me  which  have 
not  seen  the  light,  and  which,  one  of  these  days,  will  do 
me  no  discredit. 

Ere  this  you  will  have  received  my  Meya  Bt/3/Vibi/. 
The  last  chapter  will  bring  to  your  recollection  our 
journey  to  Madrid.  The  description,  p.  542.,  of  Rolica 
is  from  the  journal  which  I  made  one-and-twenty  years 
ago,  even  with  the  reflection  at  the  end,  written  at  the 
Caldas,  while  the  impression  was  fresh.  I  am  waiting 
for  a  Spanish  •'  History  of  the  War  in  Catalonia,"  to 
put  the  second  volume  to  press,  as  the  first  chapter 
must  contain  the  movements  in  that  province  from  the 
siege  of  Rosas  to  the  relief  of  Barcelona. 

In  p.  371.  there  is  a  passage  about  General  Spencer 
which  is  erroneous.  I  followed  printed  despatches  in 
the  Parliamentary  Papers,  so  positive  that  I  submitted 
my  own  judgment  to  them,  which,  it  appeared  after- 
wards, I  ought  not  to   have  done  ;  for  when    Sir   Hew 

A  A  3 


358  LETTERS  or 


1822. 


Dalrymple's  papers  arrived,  I  found,  from  his  letters  and 
Lord  Collingwood's,  that  this  was  half  blunder,  half 
braggadocio,"  on  the  part  of  Spencer,  who  is  a  most 
incapable  man.  Unluckily  it  would  have  cost  two  can- 
cels to  get  rid  of  this  single  sentence  ;  and  tliere  was  so 
much  expense  and  inconvenience  in  this,  that  (though 
neither  one  nor  the  other  would  have  fallen  on  myself) 
I  thought  it  best  to  let  the  matter  pass,  and  correct  it 
silently  in  the  future  editions.  I  am  not  conscious  of 
any  other  error ;  but  there  are  two  voluntary  omissions: 
the  one  an  offer  on  the  part  of  Louis  XVIIL  and  his 
family  to  the  Junta  of  Seville,  to  serve  in  the  Spanish 
armies,  which  I  thought  it  might  do  them  some  injury 
at  this  time  to  make  public  ;  the  other  concerns  our 
own  government,  and  is  a  striking  instance  of  the  base- 
ness with  which  in  difficult  cases  it  leaves  its  servants 
without  instructions,  for  the  sake  of  loading  them  with 
the  responsibility  of  any  failure  that  may  ensue.  The 
fact  is,  that  before  the  commencement  of  the  movements 
in  Spain,  and  during  the  first  movements,  while  Sir 
Hew  Dalrymple  was  in  communication  with  Castanos  ; 
out  of  thirty-seven  despatches,  thirty-four  of  which  re- 
lated to  these  affairs,  Lord  Castlereagh  only  acknow- 
ledged twoy  and  left  him  to  act  as  he  thought  best,  at 
his  own  peril. 

I  am  richly  stored  with  materials  for  the  rest  of  the 
war,  so  that  it  will  be  smooth  sailing  to  the  end.  Com- 
pared to  that  of  the  Brazilian  history,  the  labour  seems 
nothing.  The  second  volume  will  come  down  to  Mas- 
sena's  retreat,  perhaps  further.  I  got  at  Zurich  a  Ger- 
man account  of  his  campaign  by  a  surgeon  in  his  army. 
I  am  just  German  enough  to  make  it  out. 

Love  to  my  aunt,  the  boys,  and  Georgiana. 

God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  359 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq, 

Keswick,  Dec.  24.  1822. 
^  Dear  Stumparumper, 

So  long  a  time  has  elapsed  since  I  sent  you  the 
commencement  of  my  remarks  upon  the  peculiar  lan- 
guage spoken  by (which  I  have  denominated  the 

Lingo-Grande),  that  I  fear  you  may  suppose  that  I 
have  altogether  neglected  the  subject.  Yet  such  a 
subject,  as  you  must  perceive,  requires  a  great  deal  of 
patient  observation,  as  well  as  of  attentive  consideration ; 
and  were  I  to  flustercumhurry  over  it,  as  if  it  were  a 
matter  which  could  be  undercumstood  in  a  jifFump 
(that  is  to  say  in  a  momper),  this  would  be  to  do  what 
T  have  undertaken  shabroonily,  and  you  might  shar- 
tainly  have  reason  to  think  me  faffling  and  indiscruckt. 
Upon  my  vurtz  I  have  not  dumdawdled  with  it,  like  a 
dangleampeter ;  which  being  interpreted  in  the  same 
lingo  is  an  undecider,  or  an  improvidentui",  too  idle 
to  explore  the  hurtch  mine  which  he  has  had  the  for- 
tune to  discover.  No,  I  must  be  a  stupossum  indeed 
to  act  thus,  as  well  as  a  slouwdowdelcum,  or  slowdo- 
nothinger;  and  these  are  appellations  which  she  has 
never  bestowed  upon  me ;  though,  perhaps,  the  un- 
common richness,  and  even  exuberance,  of  her  language 
has  not  been  more  strikingly  displayed  in  anything 
than  in  the  variety  of  names  which  it  has  enabled  her 
to  shower  upon  my  devoted  person. 

I  have  been  called  poor  Peecrack,  Trumjieteerum, 
King  of  the  Jackus,  Crackarum,  Detestarum peter,  a 
Noisiton,  a  Shockrocket,  Rascalk,  and  Rascalalker, 
in  addition  to  the  pleasant  appellations  noticed  in  my 
former  epistle.  And  I  cannot  flatter  myself  that  kind- 
ness wears  the  mask  of  vituperation,  while  she  is  thus 
addressing  me,  as  it  certainly  does  when  she  sends  you 
her  hate,  and  calls  you  scarecrow.     In  your  case  there 

A  A   4 


360  LETTERS    OP  1822, 

is  a  smile  which  plays  about  her  towse ;  and  the  look 
belies  the  spoak,  silently  but  expressively  confessing  it 
to  be  a  mere  storck.  But  when  one  of  these  appella- 
tives is  discharged  at  me,  there  is  no  expression  of 
countenance  to  contradictorum  it ;  the  mouth  is  stretched 
longitudinally  to  utter  it  with  force  and  vengeance ;  out 
it  comes  like  a  pole  of  thunder,  and  seems  intended  to 
strike  me  dumb  at  least,  if  not  absolutely  to  crunch  me 
to  munch. 

Did  I  ever  show  you  a  curious  book  published  in 
1785,  with  this  title,  "  Letters  of  Literature,  by  Robert 
Heron,  Esq.  ?  "  The  copy  in  my  possession  (I  beg  par- 
don of  the  collectors — penes  me  is  the  phrase)  belonged 
to  Henry  Kirke  White,  and  was  given  to  me  by  his 
brother,  as  having  his  autograph  upon  the  title-page. 
Pinkerton  was  the  author ;  and  the  name  which  he  as- 
sumed at  random  happening  to  belong  to  an  unlucky 
writer  who  began  his  career  shortly  afterwards,  the  real 
Robert  Heron  found  himself  in  bad  odour,  owinff  to 
the  prejudice  which  these  very  conceited  and  extrava- 
gant letters  had  excited.  But  it  is  a  very  odd  book,  as 
well  as  a  most  impudent  one ;  and  the  most  curious 
thing  in  it  is  a  plan  for  improving  the  English  language, 
by  altering  its  structure.  For  this  purpose  it  was 
seriously  proposed  by  the  said  Pinkerton  that  the  most 
learned  men  in  the  three  kingdoms  should  incorporate 
themselves  in  an  academy,  publish  a  grammar  and  dic- 
tionary of  the  improved  English,  and  use  it  themselves 
both  in  writing  and  discourse  ;  thus  asserting  what  they 
called  their  proper  power  over  the  mob,  till  the  revo- 
lution in  our  speech  (for  it  was  nothing  else)  should  be 
completely  effected.  The  leading  principles  of  his  scheme 
were  to  get  rid  of  all  sounds  which  were  unpleasing  to 
his  ear,  to  throw  away  the  consonant  at  the  end  of  a 
certain  class  of  words,  add  his  favourite  vowel  o  to  it  in 
others,  and  form  the  plural   of  all  nouns  in  a.     As  a 


1822.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  361 

specimen  he  has  translated  "  Thea  Visiona "  of  Mirza, 
from  the  "  Spectator,"  into  his  own  improved  language. 
Buy  the  book  if  ever  it  falls  in  your  way,  for  it  is  a 
treasure. 

I  mention  it  now  because  I  have  compared  the  Pin- 
kertonian    lingo  with   the   Lingo-Grande  ;    and  it  is 

surprising    how    far   below    Pinkerton   must  be 

placed  in  this  department  of  genius.  For  example,  he 
would  call  the  snuffers  thea  snuffera;  with  us  they  are 
snufFumpers.  Candles  he  would  ask  for  by  the  name 
of  thea  candela ;  our  inventress  calls  them  candeels, 
canddwls,  candoals.  He  would  call  the  bells  thea  bella  ; 
our  bell  is  the  bellabbity,  when  we  are  told  to  twyke  it. 
A  gig  with  him  would  be  giggo;  here  it  is  gidge, 
euphonia  gratia ;  and  in  like  manner  bag,  which  he 
would  make  baggo,  is  softened  into  badje.  Then,  how 
poor  are  his  doggo  and  foggo,  when  compared  with  our 
dogroggarum  and  fogogrum  or  fogrogrum !  He  would 
say  spasmea  for  spasms ;  in  our  lingo  they  are  spad- 
delcoms.  Lumbago  he  would  leave  unchanged,  because 
it  terminates  in  the  vowel  which  he  so  greatly  affects ; 
but  here  the  word  is  ennobled  into  lumbaggarum,  when 
the  inventress  feels  a  pange  resembling  it.  Puddles 
he  would  call  puddela ;  with  us  they  are  pulkers,  and 
pillpulkers;  and  if  it  be  a  great,  broad,  sprawly,  dis- 
agreeable pillpulker,  then  it  is  denominated  a  pulker- 
peeler.  What  would  Pinkerton  make  of  thimble,  which 
could  equal  thimblumb  and  thimbolion  ?  And  what  of 
that  lower  region,  the  seat  of  frequent  aches,  which 
could  at  once  be  so  euphonious  and  so  delicate  as  bel~ 
teerian  ?  Here,  perhaps,  she  would  exclaim  forsham- 
masum  !  if  she  knew  that  I  were  writing  that  word ; 
but  how  unjust  should  I  be  to  her  merits  were  I  to 
omit  it ! 

The  Pinkertonian  scheme  is  inconvenient,  as  requir- 
ing perpetual  attention  to  its  principles  ;  and,  indeed, 


362  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

I  may  venture  to  say  that  it  is  impracticable,  because  it 
requires  a  total,  and  therefore  an  impossible,  change  in 
the  language  of  the  country.  But  the  Lingo-Grande 
is  not  liable  to  such  objections.  It  proposes  not  to 
alter  our  dictionary,  but  to  enlarge  it ;  not  to  re-con= 
struct  our  mother  tongue,  but  to  adorn  and  beautify  it, 
—  to  enrich  it  with  graces  and  elegances  of  speech, — 
with  flowers,  —  yea,  rather,  gems  of  language.  The 
Pinkertonian  lingo  displays  no  invention,  whereas  this 
is  eminently  distinguished  by  its  inventiveness.  When 
a  word  is  wanted  here  there  is  no  tarrying  for  rule  or 
reason,  etymology  or  analogy.  I  do  not  mean  to  say 
that  some  remote  analogy,  some  recondite  etymon,  the 
germ  or  seminal  principle  of  the  word,  may  not  some- 
times be  discovered ;  this  is  often  the  case,  and  such 
vocables  have  a  peculiar  force.  But  quite  as  often  the 
neologism,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  is  fatherless  and 
motherless, — a  clear  case  of  equivocal  generation,  an 
arbitrary  sound,  a  pure  creation.  Instances  of  both 
kinds  will  be  found  in  the  examples  which  I  am  about 
to  adduce,  and  your  discrimination  will  know  how  to 
distinguish  them. 

If  the  weather  is  what  she  calls  ramping  and  tearing, 
this  great  inventress  complains  of  its  rampasity,  and 
says  it  is  a  toarampeter  of  a  day.  Should  one  of  the 
childereelions  be  poakun,  and  frumping,  and  rouking  in 
a  work-badje,  she  tells  them  not  to  be  dabdobbering 
there,  for  it  gives  her  a  feeling  of  pokardkatur.  Has 
she  been  in  dull  company,  she  describes  the  conversa- 
tion of  such  stupossums  as  drigdraggery.  A  brook  she 
calls  the  running  splash.  "When  she  takes  a  dose  of 
physic,  she  says  it  is  to  give  her  constitution  a  jerk ; 
and  if  I  sneeze  in  her  presence  she  declares  that  it 
makes  all  the  addle  come  into  her  head.  She  objected 
to  a  new  bonnet  one  day  as  being  glomboUical !  I 
could  not  ascertain  in  what  glombollicality  consists,  nor 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  363 

would  slie  explain  it  to  me.  I  believe  it  gratifies  her 
when  she  perceives  that  I  cannot  penetrate  into  the 
signification  of  an  uncommonly  strange  and  difficult 
neologism.  She  has  left  me  till  this  hour  entirely 
unable  even  to  guess  at  what  is  meant  by  spackwhan- 
gular ;  and  if  she  does  not  accidentally  betray  the 
meaning,  I  verily  think  I  shall  die  in  ignorance  of  it. 

Drote  and  thrapple  are  the  throat.  The  under  jaw 
is  called  the  under  jabbarum,  uncle  jabbarumpeter  one 
of  the  words  for  mouth  (mouto  in  Mr.  Pinkerton's 
language).  By-the-by  she  uses  a  tooth-broom.  The 
nose  is  poggarout.  Stumper  is  the  stomach  ;  crup- 
pokur,  the  part  which  is  accommodated  with  a  saddle 
when  we  ride.  The  feet  are  wattlykins  and  foottels- 
toottels ;  they  are  known  also  by  other  appellations, 
some  diminutive  and  endearing,  others  augmentative 
and  opprobrious,  which  were  noticed  in  my  former  let- 
ter. Every  body  else's  legs  are  legrums,  if  not  horman- 
gogrums;  but  her  own,  for  some  reason  which  I  can- 
not divine,  she  calls  her  inconveniences  !  I  know  that 
it  was  formerly  deemed  indelicate  in  Portugal  to  speak 
of  legs  by  their  own  innocent  name  ;  and  they  were 
called,  therefore,  in  all  polite  circles,  the  walkers,  or  the 
goers ;  as  in  some  parts  of  Germany  a  petticoat  used  to 
be  called  a  consideration,  and  a  pair  of  gouty  shoes,  a 
pair  of  excellencies.  One  may  understand  this  ;  but  I 
cannot  comprehend  why  she  should  call  her  legs  her 
inconveniences. 

To  get  drunk  is  to  tipsyficumpus.  Her  exclamations  of 
disappointment  and  fatigue  may  bear  comparison  with  the 
most  imitative  of  the  Greek  interjections.  Oi/xot  and  otot- 
rojoL,  surely,  are  not  more  expressive  than  ohdourm5u, 
and  ohdiddledowloo.  I  would  not  depreciate  the  Greek 
words ;  each  is  certainly  a  good  mouthful  and  throat- 
ful  of  lamentation.  Yet  those  which  I  have  adduced 
in  comparison  with  them  from  the  Lingo-Grande  ap- 


364:  LETTERS   OF 


1822. 


pear  to  me  to  excel  them  in  length  and  breadth  of 
dejection,  —  in  the  plerophory  of  uncomfortabuttelness 
which  they  denote. 

Instead  of  the  second,  she  usually  says  the  tvvootli. 
Her  sisters  are  generally  called  sters.  Kincher,  is  a 
child,  gril  a  girl,  oomper  a  woman.  Cupids  are  de- 
nominated kincherums,  and  petteldeloves.  A  child 
just  able  to  tottel  about  is  a  shortycuninuttofabunch. 
If  she  speaks  to  an  infant,  she  calls  it  noansdavara,  or 
tooshdenoany-tooshdeneedelnoodle-tooshdenidle.  When 
she  is  vexed  with  herself,  she  says  she  could  tear 
goarum,  and  is  ready  to  go  tarradiddle.  I  have  heard 
her  threaten  to  c5dy  her  daughter, — an  indefinite,  and 
liitherto  inexplicable  mode  of  punishment,  by  which, 
no  doubt,  something  very  severe  is  intended.  This  is 
only  when  her  daughter  is  a  gidditonian,  or  an  ira- 
prawnce,  or  if  she  assists  me  in  compiling  the  precious 
vocabulary  which  has  enabled  me  to  treat  upon  this 
curious  subject.  At  other  times,  she  speaks  of  her  as 
a  poor  lassitudinarian  thing.  One  of  my  daughters 
has  been  favoured,  at  different  times,  with  the  name  of 
Scampalum,  Scarcrok,  Snoukarouker,  Horsegodmarum- 
pit,  and  Horsemangander.  The  collective  females  of 
the  family  are  called  the  porcaboarabumbels.  Miss 
Barker  was  seldom  addressed  by  any  other  name  than 
that  of  Barkeerum-barkumpus-barkoop.  Among  other 
observables,  it  ought  to  be  noticed  that  she  has  peculiar 
names  for  her  domestic  implements.  One  of  her  scis- 
sors is  called  pex. ;  another  is  peckrex ;  a  third  is 
bluestring;  her  work-box  is  pinkrinket ;  her  umbrella, 
}iumpcrnell,  or,  brevitatis  causa,  numper.  I  hardly 
need  observe  that  there  is  a  resemblance  here  to  the 
custom  which  prevailed  in  days  of  chivalry,  of  giving 
swords,  as  well  as  horses,  each  its  proper  name.  Thus, 
Arthur  had  his  Escalibon,  Charlemagne  his  Joyeuse, 
Roland  his  Durlindana,  and  ray  Cid  his  Colada  and 
Tizona. 


1822. 


ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  265 


I  must  observe,  also,  that  some  very  singular,  and  to 
me  unaccountable,  notions  on  natural  history,  are  fre- 
quently implied  in  her  discourse  ;  which,  when  she  is 
questioned  concerning  them,  she  avows  and  maintains 
with  great  consequence  and  pertinacity.  She  insists 
upon  it  that  stone  and  wood  are  the  same  thing  ;  that 
all  dogs,  whether  male  or  female,  are  of  the  masculine 
gender,  and  all  cats  female  ;  and,  to  prove  this  last  ex- 
traordinary, and,  as  I  may  call  it,  preposterous  assertion, 
she  tells  me  that  I  never  call  my  son  puss,  though  I  do 
call  one  of  my  daughters  so, —  choosing  to  overlook  the 
manner  in  which  the  little  girl  came  to  be  so  called,  as 
being  christened  Katharine,  from  whence,  by  easy  and 
natural  steps,  we  got  to  Puss.  But  what  is  yet  more 
sino-ular,  all  things  which  she  does  not  exactly  like  are 
toads.  Toads  drop  from  her  lips  as  they  did  from  the 
hair  of  the  ill-natured  fairy  in  the  story-book,  wlio 
powdered  with  them.  She  applies  the  name  to  all 
persons  and  all  things,  animate  or  inanimate,  real  or 
notional,  you  or  me,  a  cow  or  a  cold,  a  flea  or  a  fiddle- 
stick, a  book,  a  pen,  a  dance,  a  tune,  the  wind,  the 
weather,  the  day,  whatever  happens  to  displease  her. 
So  general,  indeed,  is  the  use  she  makes  of  it,  that  one 
might  cdmost  suppose  it  were  derived  from  the  Spanish 
todo,  which  signifies  all  and  everything,  were  it  not  that 
she  spells  it  as  you  here  see  it  spelt,  and  explains  it  to 
mean  that  poor,  calumniated,  persecuted,  squat,  squab 
animal  who  is  the  frog's  first  cousin. 

But  it  is  time  that  this  long  letter  should  be  concluded. 
I  will  conclude  it,  therefore,  with  offering  to  your  con- 
sideration a  thought  which  has  occurred  to  me  while 
writing  it.  There  is  an  hypothesis  concerning  the  origin 
of  language,  which  (to  use  an  Americanism)  has  been 
advocated  by  some  Hebricians  and  some  Welsh  anti- 
quaries. It  is,  that  the  principal  language  was  not  re- 
vealed to  our  first  parents,  but  was  "  the  result  of  a 


366  LETTERS   OF  1822. 

natural  aptitude  in  the  organs  of  speech  to  utter  cer- 
tain definite  articulations,  according  to  the  impulse  of 
man's  internal  emotions."  A  certain  number  of  imita- 
tions and  significant  radicals  were  thus  produced,  and 
the  rest  being  matters  of  combination  and  caprice,  were, 
of  course,  infinitely  variable.  Attempts  have  been  made 
to  show  that  the  principle  may,  at  this  time,  be  clearly 
traced  in  the  Welsh  and  Hebrew  roots.  For  some  sin- 
gular and  whimsical  illustrations  of  this  tlieory,  I  refer 
you  to  Mr.  Davies's  "  Celtic  Researches,"  a  book  in 
other  respects,  well  worth  reading,  being  full  of  Kimbric 
learning.  I  have  heard  that  the  notion  has  been  pursued 
much  farther  by  an  ingenious,  fanciful,  and  patient 
German.  He  supposed  that  the  characters  of  the  He- 
brew alphabet  are  of  divine  appointment,  and  carry 
with  them  the  proof  of  their  superhuman  origin,  each 
being  so  shaped  as  to  represent  the  exact  form  which 
the  organs  of  speech  assume  in  making  the  sound  de- 
noted by  it.  He  is  said  to  have  spent  a  great  many 
years  in  pronouncing  these  letters  with  his  back  to  the 
light,  a  looking-glass  before  him,  his  mouth  wide  open, 
and  a  pencil  in  his  hand,  to  catch  the  likeness,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  producing  a  series  of  anatomical 
drawings  to  illustrate  his  hypothesis. 

Something  correlative,  not  to  the  German's  notion, 
but  to  the  theory  maintained  by  my  brethi-en  of  the 
Cymmrodorion,  I  remember  to  have  heard  more  than 
twenty  years  ago  when  dining,  moi  quatrieme,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Pettier.  He  was  expatiating  to  Mr. 
Coleridge  and  myself,  for  our  edification,  upon  the 
peculiar  excellences  of  French  poetry,  and  of  the 
French  language  as  adapted  for  poetry.  And  he  in- 
stanced both  in  these  three  words  from  Racine,  — 
"  Boi  des  rois-"  words,  he  said,  which  no  person  could 
pronounce  properly,  or  hear  properly  pronounced, 
without  being  sensible  in  himself  of  an  expansion  and 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  367 

elevation  of  mind,  corresponding  to  the  expansion  of 
organs  both  of  hearing  and  speech,  sympathetic  with 
the  sound,  with  the  meaning  of  the  words,  and  the 
sublimity  of  the  sentiment. 

Now  that  great  part  of  the  vocabulary  of  the  Lingo- 
Grande  is  naturally  formed,  as  these  philosophers 
suppose  the  principal  roots  to  have  been,  appears  cer- 
tain ;  the  words  evidently  proceeding  not  from  premedi- 
tation, but  from  impulse,  and  an  impatience  of  speech 
which  will  not  allow  the  utterance  to  wait  till  the 
common  and  conventional  term  can  be  recollected. 
Perhaps  I  might  call  it  a  peculiar  imitation,  —  a  talent 
or  genius,  —  a  gifted  nature,  which  rejects  the  con- 
ventional term  as  inadequate  to  its  conceptions,  and 
seeking  words  that  burn  for  thoughts  that  breathe,  brings 
up  from  the  depths  of  its  own  being  the  natural  and 
true  vocable.  There  are  several  cases  upon  record  of 
persons  who,  under  the  influence  of  delirium  or  some 
other  derangement  of  the  head,  have  spoken  languages 
which  they  had  learned  in  childhood,  but,  through  the 
disuse  of  manyyea  rs,  had  utterly  forgotten,  till  oblite- 
rated impressions  in  the  sensorium  were  thus  mys- 
teriously restored.!  I  do  not  mean  to  reason  upon  such 
cases  as  analogous,  which,  indeed,  they  are  not,  unless 
I  took  up  the  opinion  of  pre-existence ;  an  opinion 
which,  in  this  sense,  assuredly  I  do  not  think  tenable. 
My  meaning,  as  you  must  already  perceive,  goes  further. 
Is  it  not  possible  that  ******,  when  under  an 
irresistible  impulse  she  utters  these  unpremeditated 
words,  may  actually,  though  unconsciously,  be  speaking 
the  primal  language  itself?  And  if  so,  what  a  service 
shall  1  have  rendered  to  all  future  etymologists,  such 
as  General  Vallancey,  Jacob  Bryant,  and  Walter  Whiter, 
by  these  my  humble  and  patient  labours  in  collecting 

■j-  This  was  notoriously  illustrated   in  the  case   of  the  great 
Italian  linotuist  in  his  last  sickness. 


368  LETTERS    OF  1822. 

and  preserving  its  precious  fragments,  thus  most  unex- 
pectedly but  most  happily  recovered !  Who  knows 
hut  that  some  of  these  identical  vocables  may  be  dis- 
covered in  the  Egyptian  monuments,  when  Dr.  Young 
shall  have  succeeded  (as  I  trust  he  will)  in  deciphering 
them?  or  in  the  books  of  Adam  himself,  which  the 
royal  historiographer,  Dr.  Stanier  Clarke,  upon  the 
testimony  of  the  learned  Kissaeus,  believes  to  be  at  this 
day  in  existence,  though  unhappily  neither  he  nor 
Kissaeus  could  tell  exactly  where  they  were  to  be 
found  ! 

And  so-o-o. 

Dear  Miscumter  Bedfordiddlededford, 
I  subcumscribe  myself 
Your  sincumcere  friendiddledend  and  serdiddledervant, 

ROBCUMBERT    SoUTHEYDIDDLEDOUTHEY, 

Student  in  the  Lingo-Grande,  Graduate  in  But- 
lerology,  Professor  of  the  science  of  Noncumsense- 
diddledense,  of  sneezing  and  of  vocal  music,  P.  L.  and 
LL.  D.,  &c.,  &c. 


To  C.  W.  Williams  Wynn,  Esq.,  M.  P. 

Keswick,  Dec.  29.  1822. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Your  last  frank  covered  a  copy  of  the  "Cymm- 
nodorian  Transactions,"  sent  me  by  the  secretary  through 
Bedford's  hands.  It  is  a  creditable  volume  ;  but  by 
much  the  most  important  paper  is  that  which  you  com- 
municated from  Peter  Roberts's  papers.  This  is  indeed 
very  curious,  and  seems  to  have  been  committed  to  a 
very  competent  editor.  I  am  very  anxious  that  the 
publication  of  the  "  Welsh  Remains  "  should  be  fairly 
completed,  so  that  nothing  which  can  be  of  any   use  to 


1822.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  369 

antiquaries,  historians,  or  philologists,  should  be  exposed 
to  the  danger  of  being  lost.  When  the  "  Cambro-Bri- 
ton  "  reaches  me  I  will  put  together  a  Saxon's  view  of 
the  subject  for  the  "  Quarterly  Review."  You  should 
send  a  qualified  traveller  to  Bretagne  to  see  what  could 
be  recovered  there. 

By  what  I  hear,  it  seems  no  easy  thing  to  find  a  suc- 
cessor for  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta.  The  constitution  of 
our  Church  is  such  that  very  few  of  its  ministers  are 
willing  to  volunteer  upon  foreign  service.  I  might  have ' 
appointed  a  chaplain  to  Pernambuco  four  or  five  years 
ago,  if  I  had  known  where  to  find  one  ;  the  income  was 
400^  a  year,  with  a  house,  and  lOOZ.  for  his  expenses 
out.  The  person  whom  the  Bishop  of  London  found  at 
last  was  one  of  ruined  fortunes,  though  of  fair  character. 
The  question  of  providing  religious  instruction,  that  is 
of  forming  a  Church  establishment,  for  our  new  colo- 
nies, is  one  which  should  be  considered  without  delay, 
as  ultimately  of  the  greatest  importance.  The  want  of 
such  establishments  has  been  one  main  cause  why  colo- 
nists in  modern  times  have  been  so  much  more  depraved 
than  the  people  from  whom  they  spring,  e.  g.  the  Dutch 
at  Surinam  and  at  the  Cape.  With  regard  to  India 
there  are  great  difficulties  no  doubt;  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  best  method  would  be  to  educate  some  of  the 
half-caste  for  the  ministry  there. 

Many  and  happy  returns  of  this  season  to  you  and 
yours !  God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  ^r. 

Keswick,  Dec.  30.  1822. 
I  AM  glad  you  are  satisfied  with  my  proceedings  in 
the  "Peninsular   War."      Sir   William   Knighton  has 
VOL.  III.  B    B 


370  LETTERS    OF  1822. 

written  to  me,  expressing,  by  the  King's  command,  his 
satisfaction  at  receiving  the  book,  and  his  estimation  of 
the  usefuhiess  and  importance  of  my  literary  labours  ; 
this  is  said  in  terms  sufficiently  flattering,  to  wliich  the 
King  has  added,  with  his  own  hand,  "  Entirely  approved, 
G.  R."     This,  I  suppose,  is  a  mark  of  special  favour. 

Bookseller  will  always  be  bookseller,  and  estimate 
books  merely  by  their  sale.  But  I  do  not  believe  that 
if  the  book  had  been  published  seven  years  ago,  which 
would  have  been  seven  years  too  soon,  that  fifty  copies 
more  of  it  would  have  been  sold.  I  have  heard  nothing 
from  Murray  since  its  appearance,  and  little  from  any- 
body else ;  except  that  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple  has  thanked 
me  for  his  copy,  and  expressed  himself  much  gratified  by 
the  manner  in  which  he  is  mentioned,  at  the  same  time 
disclaiming  any  share  in  the  censure  conveyed  in  p.  583., 
saying  that  he  never  saw  Junot,  and  did  not  enter  Lis- 
bon till  the  French  had  embarked.  A  Major  Tomkin- 
son,  of  the  Light  Dragoons,  has  also  written  to  me,  in 
consequence  of  reading  this  volume,  to  offer  me  any 
parts  of  his  journal  which  I  may  wish  to  see.  He 
joined  in  1809,  and  was  in  every  battle  with  the  Duke 
till  the  end  of  the  war,  except  that  of  Talavera,  having 
been  left  wounded  at  Porto.  I  have  requested  him  to 
let  me  see  the  whole  journal. 

It  is  not  my  fault  that  the  second  volume  is  not  in 
the  press.  I  applied  to  Murray  more  than  six  months 
ago  to  procure  me  a  "  History  of  the  War  in  Catalonia," 
and  a  biographical  work  connected  with  it,  both  by  the 
same  author :  Luis  de  Oliveira  (I  think)  is  the  name. 
He  served  in  that  province,  and  is  said  to  be  a  man  of 
great  talents.  The  first  chapter  of  this  volume  must 
include  the  proceedings  in  Catalonia  from  the  entrance 
of  Gouvion  St.  Cyr*  and  the  siege  of  Rosas,  to  the  de- 

*  See  "Peninsular  War,"  vol.  ii.  p.  35.  &c. 


1823.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  371 

feat  of  the  Spaniards  and  the  breaking  up  the  blockade 
of  Barcelona  ;  and,  of  course,  I  will  not  write  this  part, 
till  I  can  have  these  Spanish  works  before  me.  Then  I 
shall  get  on  briskly,  being  fully  provided  with  matter, 
and  having  no  difficulties  of  arrangement. 

At  present  1  am  pursuing  the  "  Book  of  the  Church ; " 
but  I  must  very  soon  set  about  a  paper  for  the  *'  Re- 
view,"— of  all  employments  that  which  I  like  the  least ; 
but  I  cannot  supply  my  current  expenses  without  it. 

Bedford  is  got  to  the  head  of  his  department  in  the 
Exchequer.  The  situation  ought  to  be  a  good  one,  for 
the  stamps  upon  his  appointment  come  to  75/.  Elmsley 
noluit  ejxiscOjpari  at  Calcutta,  very  wisely,  though  he 
would  have  been  the  better  for  melting.  I  believe 
there  is  some  difficulty  in  finding  a  fit  person  to  accept 
that  undesirable  promotion.  It  is  a  banishment  for 
life,  and  they  require  as  much  personal  exertions  from 
the  bishop  as  a  manufacturer  docs  from  one  of  his 
riders.  A  man  must  have  the  spirit  of  a  missionary  to 
undertake  it.  A  church  in  India  they  ought  to  have, 
on  every  account,  political  as  well  as  religious  ;  but,  as 
I  have  told  Wynn,  they  can  never  supply  it  from  this 
country,  and  therefore  ought  to  educate  half-caste  men 
for  it  in  India. 

Our  weather  is  severe.  The  report  in  Keswick, 
which  I  have  just  heard,  is  that  I  have  prophesied  a 
frost  of  thirteen  weeks'  continuance,  and  ice  upon  the 
lake  eighteen  inches  thick  ! !     God  bless  you, 

li.    S. 


To  the  Might  Hon.  C.  W.  W.  Wynn^  M.P. 

Keswick,  Jan.  3.  1823. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

Thank  you  for  the  **'  Cambro  Briton,"  and  for 

your  note. 


D  B 


372  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

The  mill  is  in  good  order,  and  the  horse  willing  to 
go  on  in  his  dail}'-  rounds.  I  am  as  willing  as  old 
Sward  to  die  in  harness,  and  should  wear  it  as  a 
volunteer  if  I  were  not  compelled  to  serve  in  the 
ranks. 

Poor  Daniel  says  of  himself  in  old  age, — 

"  Time  hath  done  to  me  this  wrong, 
To  make  me  write  too  much  and  live  too  long." 

My  disposition  is  too  cheerful  a  one  to  admit  of  a 
fear  that  I  may  ever  have  occasion  to  apply  these 
melancholy  lines  to  myself.  The  main  thing,  without 
which  I  should  have  had  anxious  thoughts  to  keep  me 
waking,  is  secured,  —  a  respectable  provision  for  my 
family.  And  if  I  should  live  a  few  years  longer,  in 
possession  of  my  health  and  faculties,  there  is  a  rea- 
sonable prospect  of  accumulating  enough  to  make  me 
independent  of  all  periodical  employment.  The  "  Pe- 
ninsular War  "  (which  I  trust  you  have  received)  is  to 
be  the  beginning  of  this.  I  made  a  most  improvident 
bargain  nine  years  ago,  instead  of  calculating  upon 
the  rise  of  my  own  reputation,  and  accepted  Murray's 
offer  of  1000  guineas  for  two  volumes.  Had  we  been 
to  make  terms  now  he  would  have  given  me  that  sum 
for  each.  I  shall  expect  to  be  paid  1500  for  the  three; 
and  that  I  shall  lay  by. 

Application  has  been  made  to  me  to  continue  "War- 
ton's  History  of  Poetry."  I  should  have  accepted  the 
offer  if  it  would  have  enabled  me  to  dispense  with 
reviewing;  that  being  the  only  work  to  which  I  go 
with  reluctance,  for  it  withdraws  me  from  worthier 
pursuits. 

I  have  had  a  gracious  message  from  the  King  through 
Sir  Wm.  Knighton,  with  the  special  favour  of  having 
it  approved  in  the  King's  own  hand. 

What  you  tell  me  of  the   Indian  College  1  am  very 


1823.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  373 

glad  to  hear.  If  you  were  minister  for  our  new  colonies, 
that  subject  interests  me  so  much  that  I  should  almost 
ask  to  be  your  secretary.  We  must  have  recourse  to 
colonisation  extensively  and  upon  system,  or  it  will  be 
impossible  to  save  our  fabric  of  society  from  destruction. 
And  if  provision  is  not  made  for  a  proper  religious 
establishment  at  first,  it  will  be  very  difficult  to  intro- 
duce it  afterwards.  In  New  Holland  and  Van  Diemen's 
Land  we  settle  by  occupancy,  not  by  conquest;  and 
if  we  go  wrong  there  it  must  be  from  inexperience  and 
error,  not  from  any  extraneous  causes. 

You  would  be  well  pleased  with  your  godson,  who 
has  as  many  promising  qualities  as  I  could  desire  to 
see. 

I  am  very  incredulous  concerning  what  is  said  of  the 
*'  Welsh  Paradise  Lost."  My  old  acquaintance  William 
Owen  was  one  of  Joanna  Southcott's  four  and  twenty 
elders :  full  of  Welsh  information  certainly  he  was,  but 
a  muddier  minded  man  I  never  met  with.  There  is 
abundant  proof  in  his  ''  Dictionary"  how  loose  and 
inaccurate  his  knowledge  of  his  own  language  is;  and 
I  could  almost  as  soon  believe  in  Joanna  Southcott 
myself,  as  be  persuaded  that  he  has  well  translated 
a  book  which  I  am  very  sure  he  does  not  understand. 

God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


To  the  Bight  Hon.  C.  W.  W.  Wynn,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Jan.  25.  1823. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  had  talked  over  just  such  a  plan  of  emigration 
as  this,  last  summer  with  Clarkson,  who  had  shipped  off 
two  or  three  families  to  Canada  at  the  parish  expense 

n  B  3 


374  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

from  liis  owa  parish,  Playford,  near  Ipswich.  The 
parish  were  convinced  that  it  was  good  economy  to  rid 
themselves,  by  an  immediate  outlay,  of  an  increasing 
expense.  This  is  a  proof  that  the  plan  is  practicable, 
and  likely  to  succeed :  and  in  this  case  the  parties  went 
without  any  promise  of  land,  to  seek  their  own  mainte- 
nance where  industry  is  sure  to  find  it. 

Is  not  the  proposed  grant  of  100  acres  too  large  for 
this  class  of  persons  ?  This  is  boon  enough  for  a  farmer. 
A  discretionary  power  of  allotment  up  to  that  amount 
might,  perhaps,  be  vested  in  the  commissioners,  accord- 
ing to  the  character  of  the  emigrants. 

An  outcry  will  be  raised  against  it  as  a  scheme  for 
transporting  the  poor;  but  it  is  not  likely  to  do  much 
harm.  Indeed,  the  views  upon  this  subject  which  I 
mean  to  bring  forward  in  my  "  Dialogues  "  are,  that, 
while  for  age  and  infirmity  more  ought  to  be  done  than 
our  poor-laws  ever  have  provided,  if  the  country  is 
compelled  to  feed  able-bodied  paupers,  it  thereby  ac- 
quires the  right  of  transporting  them  to  any  place  where 
that  can  be  done  at  the  easiest  rate,  or  where  the  ne- 
cessity for  doing  it  may  be  removed. 

In  the  case  of  orphans  and  bastards,  this,  I  think, 
might  be  acted  upon  now  with  good  effect,  both  for  the 
children  and  the  workhouses. 

I  hope  and  trust  that  provision  will  be  made  for  a 
clergyman  in  every  township. 

Your  packet  was  dated  on  the  wrong  day.  I  con- 
gratulated myself  that  this  was  not  the  case  with  the 
"  Cambro-Briton."  Wiiy  is  it  that  other  public  offices 
do  not,  like  the  Treasury,  omit  the  date  on  their  franks  ? 
It  is  perfectly  useless  where  there  is  no  limitation  of 
numbers,  and  Mr.  Freeling  never  uses  it  himself. 

Read  "  Elia,''  if  the  book  has  not  fallen  in  your  way. 
It  is  by  my  old  friend,  Cliarles  Lamb.  There  are  some 
things  in  it  which  will  offend,  and  some  which  will  pain 


1823.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  375 

you,  as  they  do  me  ;  but  you  will  find  in  it  a  rich  vein 
of  pure  gold. 

I  am  glad  to  sec  that  Arbuthnot  leaves  the  Treasury 
and  that  Herries  goes  there  ;  because  I  believe  you  will 
exchange  a  most  inefficient  person  for  a  very  fit  one. 

You  will  not  find  any  person  to  accept  your  bishopric 
who  has  good  hopes  of  advancement  at  home ;  nor 
easily  a  proper  person,   unless  he  has  somewhat  of  a 

missionary  spirit.     I  think will  not  go,  and  doubt 

whether  his  formal  and  cold  manners  would  not  unlit 
him  for  it.  His  very  approach  benumbs  one,  like  the 
touch  of  a  torpedo.  God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  S,-c. 

Keswick,  Jan.  26.  1823, 

Can  you  tell  me  the  Marques  de  Astorga's  *  names, 
that  is,  what  are  the  old  families  which  centred  in  him  ? 
for  I  believe  he  was  the  representative  of  a  great  many, 
and  I  should  like  what  I  have  written  concerning  him 
a  great  deal  better  if  two  or  three  of  the  noblest  names 
were  introduced  in  it.  The  want  of  a  Spanish  Nobi- 
liario,  and  of  a  topographical  work,  like  tlie  Corografia, 
for  Spain,  sends  me  often  to  hunt  through  some  score  of 
books,  for  what,  after  all,  sometimes  I  cannot  find.  I 
have  contracted  an  uneasy  habit  of  superfluous  accuracy, 
which  is  an  expensive  one  by  the  consumption  of  time 
that  it  occasions  ;  but  if  the  fruit  is  not  worth  the  cost, 
it  is  nevertheless  worth  something. 

I  am  proceeding  with  the  second  volume,  in  high 
good  humour  with  my  work.     "Whenever  Murray  pro- 

*  "A  grandee  of  the  highest  class,  and  the  representative  of 
some  of  the  proudest  names  in  Spanish  history,"  &c.  —  Peninsular 
War,  vol.  ii.  p.  33. 

I?  15    4 


376  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

vides  me  with  the  "  History  of  the  Catalan  War,"  it 
shall  go  to  press  ;  and  if  I  were  free  from  other  calls,  it 
would  be  no  difficulty  for  me  with  the  preparations 
which  I  have  made,  to  bring  out  the  volume  in  six 
months,  and  the  concluding  one  in  six  more.  Murray 
has  not  written  to  me  since  its  publication:  and  the 
only  opinion  concerning  it,  which  has  reached  me  from 
a  stranger,  was  in  a  letter  of  Lord  Colchester's  to  Rick- 
man,  which  Rickman  sent  me. 

Trant  has  written  to  me,  and  volunteered  some  com- 
munications which  I  shall  be  glad  to  receive,  relating  to 
Soult's  invasion.  My  second  volume,  I  expect,  will 
come  down  to  Massena's  expulsion. 

How  do  you  bear  this  uncomfortable  weather  ?  It  is 
now  a  fortnight  since  we  have  seen  the  face  of  the 
earth;  and  strong  easterly  winds  are  prevailing,  against 
which  no  clothing  is  sufficient. 

Government  has  a  plan  before  it  for  assisting  parishes 
to  relieve  themselves  of  their  able-bodied  poor,  by  lend- 
ing money  to  carry  them  to  Canada.  Wynn  has  sent 
me  the  plan  as  it  comes  from  the  Colonial  Office.  The 
money  is  to  be  repaid,  with  interest,  from  the  poor- 
rates,  which  upon  every  head  so  removed  will  find  an 
immediate  saving  of  about  four-fifths,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  breed  of  paupers  is  diminished,  and  more  work 
left  for  the  hands  that  remain.  Clai-kson  and  I  talked 
of  such  a  scheme  last  summer,  and  he  had  been  acting 
upon  the  same  views  in  his  own  parish,  which  he  had 
persuaded  to  ship  off  two  or  three  families. 

Wynn,  I  think,  will  have  some  difficulty  to  dispose  of 
liis  bishopric.  Every  person  who  has  any  hope  of  pre- 
ferment at  home,  will  say  nolo  episcojjari,  when  they  are 
proffered  a  mitre  at  Calcutta.  I  would  recommend  your 
neighbour  Dealtry,  if  I  did  not  think  it  would  be  doing 
both  him  and  his  parishioners  an  ill  office.  He  might 
very  possibly  think  it  his  duty  to  go,  if  it  were  proposed 


1823.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  377 

to  him  ;  and  perhaps  would  bo  more  likely  to  think  so, 
because  there  would  be  a  great  sacrifice  of  ease  and 
comfort. 

It  is  a  good  thing  that  Arbuthnot  is  removed  from 
the  Treasury,  and  not  less  so  that  Herries  is  sent  there, 
— the  man  of  all  others  most  fit  for  that  situation.  He 
will  be  as  useful  there  as  Arbuthnot  has  beenineflficient. 
How  he  will  succeed  as  a  speaker,  I  do  not  know.  But 
he  is  an  excellent  man  of  business  ;  his  views  are  sound, 
and  he  has  no  want  of  decision  or  of  firmness.  He  is 
very  intimate  with  Bedford,  and  I  have  known  him 
more  than  twenty  years,  upon  such  terms  that  I  feel 
myself  bound  to  dine  with  him  whenever  I  visit  town. 
It  is  gratifying  to  see  how  most  of  my  friends  and  ac- 
quaintance have,  in  so  many  diflferent  lines,  risen  to 
their  proper  stations  ;  and  it  is  not  the  less  gratifying 
because  I  continue  at  the  foot  of  Skiddaw,  for  that  is 
my  proper  station. 

At  present,  thank  God,  we  are  all  well,  and  going  on 
as  usual,  without  any  interruptions,  one  day  like  an- 
other. To-day,  indeed,  has  furnished  an  exception, 
worthy  of  an  extraordinary  gazette,  for  a  polecat  was 
caught  in  the  back  kitchen,  in  the  rat-trap.  It  was  in 
high  odour,  the  first  I  ever  saw  or  smelt. 

God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


To  John  Richnan,  Esq.,  ^c. 

Keswick,  Feb.  1.  1823. 

My  dear  R., 

Thank  you  for  your  letter,  and  for  Lord  Col- 
chester's, which  is  as  complimentary  as  the  vainest  author 
could  desire.     It  does  not  appear  to  me  that  I  have  in- 


378  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

corporated  more  of  the  state  papers  than  is  necessary 
for  carrying  on  the  narration  and  laying  the  whole  ini- 
quit}'  fairly  before  the  world;  but  I  am  aware  that  a 
love  of  detail  is  my  besetting  sin,  and  that  I  should 
have  been  better  suited  to  the  age  had  I  lived  when 
men  wrote  folios. 

The  second  volume  will  not  be  long  in  passing 
through  the  press  when  I  can  get  it  in.  But  the  first 
chapter  waits  for  some  Spanish  books  relating  to  the 
war  in  Catalonia,  which  Murray  has  been  more  than 
twelve  months  getting  for  me.  I  am  very  rich  in  mate- 
rials for  it. 

You  told  me  that  the  Caledonian  Canal  was  a  sore 
subject  *,  and  something  to  that  purport  I  heard  from 
Lord  Lowther.  This  has  prevented  me  from  sending 
some  communications  through  you  to  Mr.  Telford,  lest 
they  should  be  ill-timed.  They  are  two  Inscriptions 
for  the  Canal ;  and  my  annual  Ode,  such  being  to  the 
praise  and  glory  of  Scotland,  contains  becoming  men- 
tion of  him  and  Rennie.  I  have  several  of  these  Odes 
now,  which  will  do  me  no  discredit  when  they  see  the 
light. 

I  am  glad  of  the  alterations  at  the  Treasury,  but  not 
so  glad  that  you  have  exchanged  a  quiet  steady  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer  for  one  who  can  be  talked  out 
of  any  purpose,  and  is  then  ready  to  hang  himself  for 
his  folly  ;  for  this  is  what  I  hear  of  him.  Herries  is  a 
man  of  business,  with  proper  views,  and  with  no  want 
of  resolution.  I  think  he  is  likely  to  make  his  way  to 
that  situation  in  time.  At  present  he  could  not  be 
better  than  where  he  is. 

We  killed  a  polecat  last  week  ;  and  it  is  now  matter 

*  On  the  failure  of  the  Caledonian  Canal," —  not  as  a  work  of 
art,  but  as  a  means  of  traffic, —  it  is  quite  worth  while  referring  to 
an  article  in  the  '■'■Edinburgh  Review"  January,  1856,  —  "The 
Suez  Canal." 


1823. 


ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  379 


of  doubt  whether  he  ought  to  have  been  considered  as 
friend  or  enemy,  his  service  against  the  rats  being  set 
off  against  the  poultry  score.  So,  considering  the  Whigs 
as  rats,  and  Hunt,  Cobbett,  &c.  as  polecats,  I  am  rather 
disposed  to  be  pleased  with  what  the  Radicals  are  doing 
at  this  time.  God  bless  you, 

Iv.  S> 


To  the  Rev.  Neville  White,  ^c. 

Keswick,  Feb.  2G.  1823. 

My  dear  Neville, 

The  corrections,  &c.,  will  be  in  Longman's 
hands  before  this  reaches  you.  I  have  incorporated 
part  of  the  preface  to  the  third  volume,  added  the  rest 
of  it  after  the  "Life,"  and  inserted  in  the  "Life"  some 
things  noted  from  the  letters  which  were  last  in  my 
possession.  The  proofs  are  to  be  sent  me,  that  I 
may  carefully  revise  the  whole.  One  gap  is  left  for 
you  to  fill  up  with  the  name  of  the  college  at  which 
Almond  was  entered.  I  am  heartily  glad  that  the  sup- 
plementary volume  has  done  its  work  so  well.  The 
"  Remains"  have  yet  one  stage  to  reach  ;  they  must  one 
day  be  printed  in  a  smaller  form  for  the  pocket,  and  for 
popular  sale. 

You  ask  me  concerning  the  affairs  of  Spain.  Three 
years  ago,  I  dined  at  Mr.  Butler's  (the  Catholic),  when 
his  son-in-law.  Colonel  Stonor,  who  is  a  Spaniard,  had 
just  received  the  first  packet  of  pamphlets,  proclama- 
tions, and  newspapers,  after  the  Revolution  had  been 
effected  by  the  army.  They  called  upon  me  to  rejoice 
with  them,  but  1  could  not  join  in  their  exultation ; — 
a  bad  government,  indeed,  had  been  overthrown,  but  a 
better  had  not  been  substituted  for  it.  The  Constitu- 
tion whicli  the  Cortes  had  formed,  tended  decidedly 
(and  designedly,  also,  no  doubt)  to  bring  about  a  de- 


380  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

mocracy.  I  had  always  seen  this  tendency,  and  my 
disapprobation  was  by  no  means  diminished  when  I  saw 
it  restored  through  the  instrumentality  of  soldiers  who 
thought  it  better  to  stay  at  home  and  subvert  the 
Government,  than  obey  its  order  by  embarking  for 
America. 

The  Spanish  Revolution  has  been  occasioned  not  by 
any  desire  of  change  on  the  part  of  the  people,  but  by 
the  inability  of  the  Government  to  pay  its  civil  and  mi- 
litary establishments.  Ferdinand  returned  to  a  ruined 
kingdom,  that  is,  ruined  as  to  its  finances :  the  colonies 
from  whence  the  main  revenues  had  formerly  been  de- 
rived were  lost,  and  the  mother-country  in  no  condition 
to  support  taxes,  everything  having  been  subverted. 
The  same  cause  would  have  overthrown  the  present 
Government  two  years  ago,  if  it  had  not  been  supported 
by  the  loans  which  it  raised  in  England,  and  which,  in 
all  likelihood,  will  ruin  all  who  have  engaged  in  them. 
Meantime,  the  manner  in  which  they  have  robbed  the 
nobility  and  the  Church  of  their  property  has  offended 
both  these  bodies :  the  kingdom  is  overrun  with  ban- 
ditti ;  the  rabble  in  the  large  towns  are  become  radicals, 
made  so  by  the  Government  itself;  the  great  majority 
of  the  nation  detest  the  new  order  of  things,  but  would 
be  passive  under  any  order  if  they  could;  and  the 
braver  spirits  have  taken  arms  against  it. 

The  course  which  the  Revolutionists  have  taken  re- 
sembles that  of  their  French  exemplars  so  closely  that  no 
doubt  can  be  entertained  of"  their  going  through  the  same 
stages  of  regicide  and  massacre  if  left  to  themselves,  un- 
less the  Royalists  were  strong  enough  to  recover  the 
ascendency.  And  here  a  difficult  question  arises.  Is  it 
expedient  for  France  to  interfere  ?  To  question  the 
right  of  interference  is  absurd.  If  my  next-door  neigh- 
bours were  fighting,  endeavouring  to  kill  one  another, 
and  likely,  moreover,  in  their  quarrel,  to  set  fire  to  the 


1823.  ROBERT   SOUTUEY.  381 

house,  it  would  be  madness  in  me  not  to  interfere,  if  I 
could  do  it  to  any  good  purpose. 

Therefore,  if  France  were  a  power  which  could  he 
trusted,  and  would  interfere  as  honourably  as  we  did 
when  we  rescued  Spain  from  Buonaparte,  I  should  ap- 
prove its  interference,  and  heartily  wish  it  success.  But 
the  French  are  a  faithless  nation  :  they  have  ever  been 
so,  and,  upon  the  first  favourable  opportunity,  they 
would  gladly  revive  the  wildest  schemes  of  Louis  XIV. 
or  Buonaparte.  Even  could  we  trust  tliem,  and  their 
conduct  were  to  be  as  unexceptionable  as  I  verily  think 
the  grounds  of  their  interference  are,  the  question  of 
expediency  is  a  very  difficult  one.  When  they  get  to 
Madrid  (which  may  be  done  without  difficulty),  the 
work  is  far  from  being  over.  They  may  make  a  new 
government,  or  restore  the  old  despotism,  but  how  is  it 
to  be  supported  ?  The  old  difficulty  of  the  finances  re- 
curs ;  and  thus  government  will  require,  not  our  auxi- 
liary troops  to  keep  the  country  quiet,  but  loans  to 
maintain  it,  till  credit  and  prosperity  are  restored. 
France  may  have  some  reason  to  apprehend  discontent 
at  home,  and  the  explosion  of  her  own  combustibles,  if 
the  struggle  be  prolonged ;  or,  to  prevent  this,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  she  may  be  willing  to  provoke  a  war 
with  England,  for  which  the  Portuguese  seem  disposed 
to  give  her  a  pretext.  If  they  assist  the  Spaniards,  and 
the  French,  in  consequence,  invade  Portugal,  we  can  no 
longer  remain  neutral. 

Here,  then,  are  two  evils  in  prospect  ;  that  France 
may  acquire  such  ascendency  over  Spain  as  Louis  XIV. 
aimed  at,  and  that  we  may  be  drawn  into  a  war,  in 
support  of  those  very  revolutionary  opinions  against 
which  we  have  struggled  so  long.  And  this  is  what  the 
Whigs  desire.  The  very  persons  who  would  have  had 
us  desert  Spain  and  the  Portuguese  when  they  resisted 
Buonaparte,  arc  now  endeavouring  to  force  us  into  a 


382  LETTERS    OF  1823. 

war  in  tlieir  behalf.  Undoubtedly  they  hope  that  it 
would  end  in  a  revolution  at  home  by  the  embarrass- 
ments which  it  would  produce.  In  this  they  are  greatly 
deceived,  for  it  would  restore  agricultural  prosperity, 
and  give  a  new  spur  to  our  manufactures.  But  this 
would  be  dearly  purchased.  Our  policy  is  to  preserve 
peace  and  order  wherever  our  influence  extends. 

I  have  written  hastily,  and  may  very  possibly  have 
failed  to  make  myself  understood.  The  upshot  is  this  ; 
it  is  a  struggle  in  Spain  between  two  extremes  which 
are  both  so  bad  that  one  can  hardly  form  a  wish  on 
either  side ;  and  that  the  one  thing  to  be  desired  is, 
that  order  should  be  restored  there.  If  France  were  an 
upright  power,  her  interference  would  be  desirable;  — 
being  what  she  is,  it  is  to  be  wished  that  the  Peninsula 
were  left  to  itself. 

It  will  be  some  eight  or  ten  weeks  before  I  see 
you.  All  here  are  well,  and  all  join  in  kind  remem- 
brances to  your  fireside  and  circle.     God  bless  you. 

Yours  affectionately, 

R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  March  22.  1823. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

Suppose  you  were  a  young  lady  in  the  nineteenth 
year  of  your  age,  very  busy  in  preparing  certain  remem- 
brances to  be  transmitted  by  a  safe  opportunity  to  her 
distant  friends,  and  that  some  of  these  remembrances 
could  not  be  finished  for  want  of  ultramarine,  and 
that  one  of  your  father's  oldest  and  dearest  friends, 
liolding  a  high  situation  in  his  Majesty's  Exchequer, 
had  promised  to  send  you  a  cake  of  this  indispensable 


1823.  KOBEllT    SOUTHEY.  383 

colour,  under  cover  of  an  official  frank,  should  not  you 
think  that  the  whole  business  of  the  Exchequer,  and  all 
things  connected  therewith,  might  be  suspended,  while 
the  said  ultramarine  was  procured  ? 

Will  you  send  me  some  vegetable  marrow  seeds  under 
the  same  cover  ?  and  I  will  promise  you  that  their  pro- 
duce shall  be  excellently  cooked,  when  you  come  and 
help  me  to  drink  Lightfoot's  cider  which  is  now  upon 
the  road. 

The  Royal  Irish  Academy  sent  me  the  other  day  an- 
other tail  to  my  name,  for  the  benefit  of  my  next  title- 
page  ;  I  am  glad  this  was  done  after  my  Irish  ode  was 
written,  and  before  it  has  appeared  in  the  world. 

I  have  to-day  received  the  proofs  of  my  paper  upon 
the  Theophilanthropists  in  France  and  the  Rise  and 
Progress  of  Infidelity,  and,  of  course,  seen  it  for  the 
first  time  as  a  whole.  What  opinion  may  be  formed  of 
it,  I  cannot  foresee;  but  that  with  regard  to  individuals 
it  will  do  some  of  the  good  which  was  intended,  I  do 
not  doubt  ;  and,  upon  this  first  consecutive  perusal,  I  am 
glad  that  I  have  written  it. 

Gifford  has  not  written  to  me  since  his  recovery.  It 
is  possible  that  he  may  not  be  in  good  humour  with  me 
for  endeavouring  to  procure  a  successor  for  him,  though 
it  was  in  consequence  of  his  expressing  to  me  the  neces- 
sity of  looking  out  for  one.  I  certainly  wish  the  journal 
were  in  John  Coleridge's  hands,  both  for  personal  and 
public  considerations.  The  good  which  it  might  do  is 
grievously  counteracted  by  the  grass  inconsistencies 
which  are  now  to  be  found  in  it, — its  cruel  and  unmanly 
injustice  on  some  occasions,  and  its  wretched  cowardice 
on  others.  I  shall  ask  him  if  he  will  have  an  article 
upon  Spain  and  Portugal, — a  question  upon  which  lam 
quite  willing  to  take  the  field  against  all  the  Whigs  in 
the  world.     Oh,  how  I  could  trample  upon  them ! 

I  mean   to  ask  Murray  to   print  a  selection  of  my 


384  LETTERS   OF 


1823. 


papers,  with  restorations  and  revisions,  in  some  such 
arrangement  as  Essays,  moral  and  poHtical,  which  would 
fill  two  volumes ;  there  are  many  more  of  Essays,  histo- 
rical and  ecclesiastical,  and  lastly  critical  and  miscella- 
neous, keeping  each  collection  distinct,  not  to  alarm  the 
public  with  too  much  at  once.  In  this  manner  he  might 
put  some  money  in  my  pocket  and  in  his  own.  I  should 
include  some  papers  from  the  "  Annual  Review,"  and 
make  up  some  from  the  "Edinburgh  Annual  Register." 

God  bless  you, 
R.  S. 


To  John  Rickman,  Esq,,  ^-c. 

Keswick,  March  25.  1823. 

My  dear  Rickman, 

I  am  trying  my  hand  at  some  Inscriptions,  more 
vieo,  in  blank  verse,  one  in  honour  of  the  Caledonian 
Canal,  and  another  of  the  Engineer.  I  shall  try  at  a 
third  about  the  Highland  Roads,  though  not  in  rivalry 
of  General  Wade's  !     You  shall  soon  have  them. 

To-day  I  have  heard  of  a  remedy  for  the  hooping 
cough,  practised  at  this  time  in  this  town  :  it  is  to  pass 
the  child  three  times  under  the  belly  of  an  ass ! 

Can  you  send  me  the  Agricultural  and  Commercial 
Reports  of  last  year?  Gilford  would  have  had  me  write 
upon  these  subjects,  but  I  did  not  think  myself  compe- 
tent to  it.  The  present  distress  is,  I  suppose,  like  other 
cries  of  the  same  kind  :  one  set  of  men  are  losing  while 
others  gain  in  a  like  proportion  ;  and  the  loss  happens 
now  to  fall  upon  the  most  querulous  and  most  powerful 
part  of  the  community  ;  more  selfish  than  the  commer- 
cial interest  they  are  not,  but  certainly  nothing  could 
exceed  the  selfishness  which  they  manifested  in  more 
instances  than  one  during  the  war. 


1823.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  385 

I  have  not  heard  from  Wynn  since  he  has  been  on 
his  bed  of  roses  ;  but  I  dare  say  he  thinks  not  quite  so 
favourably  of  Grey  Bennct's  intentions  and  disposition 
as  he  used  to  do. 

The  French  Government,  1  hear,  thinks  itself 
strengthened  by  these  eruptions  of  disaffection.  I 
should  think  so  too,  if  the  adjoining  states  were  tranquil 
and  contented.  It  is,  however,  a  great  point  to  have  a 
Ministry  in  France  who  are  decidedly  Royalists. 

Do  you  remember  the  little  man  of  the  Irish  Com- 
missariat, who  called  upon  me  on  behalf  of  certain  cast- 
off  cavalry  horses  ?  He  dined  with  me  last  week,  having 
been  turned  off  after  six-and-twenty  years'  service.  We 
have  had  many  humbugs  in  our  days,  but  none  so  cruel 
in  its  operation  as  this  humbug  of  economy. 

God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 

P.S.  If  Mrs.  R.  has  not  seen  a  little  volume  of  poems 
called  the  **  Widow's  Tale,"  I  recomm.end  it  to  her.  It 
comes  from  the  New  Forest ;  the  authoress  is  a  Miss 
Bowles,  of  Buckland,  near  Lymington. 


To  the  Rev.  Neville  White,  ^-c. 

Keswick,  April  18.  1823. 

My  dear  Neville, 

I  did  hope  that  I  should  have  been  on  my  travels 
at  this  time ;  but  it  is  with  me  in  most  of  my  writings 
as  with  one  who  builds  a  house,  and  finds  when  he  is 
in  the  middle  of  it  that  the  cost  thereof  will  exceed  the 
estimate  twofold.  My  work  grows  under  my  hands  ; 
and  whether  it  be  the  natural  effect  of  increasing  years, 
or  arises  from  any  cause  to  which  it  might  be  more 
agreeable    to  impute    it,   certain  it  is  that  I  compose 

VOL.  III.  C   C 


386  LETTERS    OP  1823. 

inuch  more  slowly  than  I  was  wont  to  when  younger. 
I  shall  not  be  able  to  leave  home  in  less  than  a  month 
from  this  time ;  and  if  it  be  equally  convenient  to  you, 
it  will,  I  think,  be  rather  more  so  to  me,  if  I  take 
Norwich  on  my  way  home,  in  the  middle  of  July. 

This  has  been  a  severe  season,  and  you  are  in  the 
coldest  part  of  England.  Next  winter  let  me  recom- 
mend to  you  what  I  have  used  myself  for  many  years  — 
a  sleeved  waistcoat  of  washing-leather.  I  believe  no 
other  mode  of  clothing  will  protect  the  chest  so  well. 
As  soon  as  the  cold  weather  sets  in  I  take  to  it;  and  I 
laid  it  aside  for  this  year  only  last  week. 

My  brother,  the  Captain,  is  on  his  way  to  Canada,  to 
form  a  judgment  upon  the  spot,  upon  the  expediency  of 
transplanting  his  family  thither,  in  the  spring  of  next 
year,  to  a  grant  of  lands.  He  departed  on  Wednesday 
last.  This  business  has  occupied  much  of  my  time,  and 
will  long  continue  to  occupy  too  much  of  my  thoughts. 
Our  climate  is,  in  some  respects,  better  than  yours. 
We  have  had  three  weeks  of  delightful  weather,  though 
with  easterly  winds.  The  last  two  days  there  have 
been  slight  rains,  and  to-day  there  is  snow  on  the 
mountains.  From  London  I  hear  complaints  of  the  cold, 
and  the  want  of  sunshine. 

You  will  see  a  paper  of  mine  upon  the  Rise  and 
Progress  of  Infidelity,  in  the  next  "  Q,.  R."  When 
the  new  edition  of  "  Baxter  "  is  completed,  I  mean  to 
take  that  opportunity  of  drawing  up  an  account  of  his 
life.  At  present  I  am  busy  with  "Cranmer"  and  his 
fellow  worthies.  The  Roman  Catholics  will  not  like 
my  book ;  nor  will  it  be  more  agreeable  to  the  Dis- 
senters. The  chapter  which  is  likely  to  produce  most 
impression  will  be  that  relating  to  the  destruction  of 
the  Church  establishment  during  the  great  rebellion. 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  Neville, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


1823.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  387 

To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  ^c. 

Keswick,  April  27.  1823. 

The  principle  of  emulation  is  carried  much  too  far  in 
modern  education.  Many  men  are  absolutely  killed  by 
it  at  the  Universities  ;  and  many  more  injure  their  con- 
stitutions irreparably.  No  one  with  whom  I  have  any 
influence  shall  ever  suffer  from  that  cause.  The  habit 
to  be  encouraged  is  that  of  placid  diligence.  What  is 
thus  healthily  acquired  is  retained,  whereas  the  cram- 
ming system  hurts  the  digestion.  My  chief  reason  for 
wishing  that  Edward  may  be  elected  to  Oxford,  is  be- 
cause they  cram  there  less  than  at  Cambridge. 

I  am  not  surprised  at  my  aunt's  determination  con- 
cerning Errol.  Indeed,  I  rather  expected  it ;  and  yet, 
as  the  thing  would  (I  have  no  doubt)  have  been  in  my 
power,  it  seemed  proper  to  mention  it. 

It  is  well  for  us  that  in  youth  we  do  not  see  the 
objections  which  exist  to  every  profession  in  life  ;  if  we 
did,  life  might  be  at  an  end  before  we  could  venture  to 
make  the  choice.  Edward's,  I  hope,  will  be  made  for  the 
Church.  He  will  take  a  little  Hebrew  with  him  from 
Westminster ;  little  enough,  but  still  a  foundation.  I 
shall  advise  him  before  he  leaves  school  to  master  the 
German  grammai',  which  ten  minutes  a  day  would  en- 
able him  to  do.  No  person  knows  better  than  I  do 
what  small  gains  amount  to,  in  accumulations  of  this 
kind.  This  language  is  of  main  importance  in  most 
literary  researches. 

You  will  not  wonder  (knowing  how  prone,  in  Persian 
phrase,  my  *'  peri  of  the  steed  is  to  expatiate  on  the  plain 
of  prolixity"*)  that  the  Book  of  the  Church  is  swelling 

*  The  expression  is  from  the  "  Bahar  Daiiush,  or  Garden  of 
Knowledge,"  vol.  i.  p.  88.     "  Had  exercised  the  steed  of  narriftion 

c  c  2 


388  LETTERS   OP  1823. 

into  two  ordinary  sized  octavos.  The  fact  is,  that  I 
intended  to  deal  in  generals,  but  found  as  I  went  on 
that  it  was  the  particulars  which  must  give  life  and 
effect  to  the  composition.  As  far  as  it  has  gone  I  am 
well  satisfied  with  it.  A  view  of  the  Papal  system  is 
just  printed,  which  is  likely  to  produce  a  proper  effect. 
I  do  not  quite  see  my  way  in  the  last  chapter,  but  it 
will  open  before  me  when  I  arrive  at  it.  I  think  of 
dedicating  it  to  the  Bishop  of  London. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Walter  Savage  Landor,  Esq. 

Keswick,  May  8.  1823. 

My  dear  Landor, 

Your  letter  arrived  this  day,  and  yesterday  I 
received  and  answered  one  from  Julius  Harej-,  concern- 
ing your  "  Dialogues."  The  purport  of  his  was  to  say 
that  Taylor  (a  man,  I  believe,  very  superior  to  most  of 
his  trade,)  demurred  upon  grounds  of  principle  to  cer- 
tain passages,  and  had,  after  some  previous  correspond- 
ence with  him,  proposed  that  I  or  Wordsworth  should 
see  the  proofs,  and  if  we  approved  of  what  he  con- 
demned, he  would  be  bound  by  our  decision.  Words- 
worth is  gone  to  the  Netherlands,  and  I  replied  without 
hesitation  that  I  would  most  willingly  take  upon  myself 
this  responsibility,  and  act  for  you  in  this  matter  as  you 

on  the  course  of  prolixity;"  and  p.  109.:  "Further,  the  light- 
footed  steed  of  the  peri  has  not  found  permission  to  proceed  on  the 
plain  of  prolixity." 

I  I  wrote  to  Archdeacon  Hare  after  his  last  attack  to  ask  if  he 
had  any  letters  of  Southey's.  He  was  too  weak  to  write,  but  Mrs. 
Hare  wrote  for  him,  and  said  there  were  none.  The  letter  alluded 
to  above  is  in  my  hands. 


1823.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  389 

would  act  by  me ;  taking  care  that  wherever  there  was 
an  omission  the  place  should  be  marked. 

Longman  was  desired  in  December  to  send  you  my 
own  and  Wordsworth's  books,  and  "  Humboldt's  Tra- 
vels." He  has  never  told  me  by  what  vessel  they  were 
sent,  which  he  ought  to  have  done,  but  they  should 
have  reached  you  long  ere  this. 

I  long  to  see  these  "  Dialogues."  Upon  the  question 
of  Catholicism  we  shall  entirely  agree.  There  is  a 
chapter  upon  the  subject  in  my  forthcoming  "  Review 
of  our  Ecclesiastical  History ;"  and  whatever  effect  we 
may  produce  upon  those  who  are  more  than  moderately 
inclined  to  this  base  and  grovelling  superstition  (as  you 
say  Mr.  Hare  is),  1  think  we  shcill  produce  some  upon 
those  who  at  present  are  less  than  moderately  acquainted 
with  its  real  character.     Yet  I  regret  some  of  its  parts. 

Your  specimen  is  delightful.  Julius  Hare,  indeed, 
speaks  of  the  whole  just  in  such  terms  as  I  should  ex- 
pect it  to  deserve.  Upon  one  great  question,  that  of 
the  improvement  of  nations  through  their  governments, 
I  think  that  were  I  in  Italy  I  should  approach  nearer  to 
you,  and  were  you  in  England,  or  in  America,  you 
would  draw  nearer  to  me.  The  struggle  at  present  is 
between  two  extremes,  both  so  bad,  that  if  a  wish  of 
mine  could  incline  the  beam,  I  should  not  know  in 
which  scale  to  cast  it. 

My  first  volume  is  wormwood  to  the  Foxites,  and  not 

more  palatable  to  the  worshippers  of  Mr.  Pitt.     I  think 

there  is  not  one  feeling  expressed  in  it  with  whicli  you 

will  not  concur.      The  single   opinion  in  which  you  are 

likely  to  dissent  from  me  is  one  which  is  derived  from 

observation, —  in  opposition  to  my  wishes,  —  that    old 

despotisms  can  better  be  modified  by  a  single  will  than 

by  a  popular  assembly  ;   and  that  in  such  countries  as 

Spain  and  Portugal,  a  despotic  minister  (like  Pombal), 

acting  in   conformity  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  is  the 

c  c  3 


390  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

reformer  to  be  wished  for.  I  would  have  governments 
reformed,  as  Cranmer  would  in  all  points,  and  did  in 
most,  reform  the  Church  of  England.  But,  let  indi- 
viduals and  communities  err  as  they  may,  it  is  apparent 
that  upon  the  great  scale  mankind  are  improving.  But 
this,  too,  may  appear  differently  in  Italy  from  what  it 
does  in  England. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  of  your  children.  Till  we  become 
parents  we  know  not  the  treasures  of  our  own  nature, 
and  what  we  then  discover  may  make  us  believe  that 
there  are  yet  latent  affections  and  faculties  which  another 
state  of  existence  may  develop.  My  boy  is  now  be- 
ginning his  fifth  year,  and  is,  thank  God,  flourishing 
and  promising  as  I  could  wish.  My  eldest  daughter  is 
a  young  woman,  taller  than  her  mother.  Time  has  set 
his  mark  upon  me,  but  lays  his  hand  gently  ;  as  yet  he 
has  taken  nothing  from  me  but  the  inclination  for  writing 
poetry,  and  threatens  nothing  at  present  but  my  grind- 
ers, which  he  is  attacking  by  regular  approach,  sapping 
and  mining.  Last  summer  I  was  severely  shaken  by 
an  annual  catarrh,  which  for  many  years  has  taken  up 
its  quarters  with  me  for  the  whole  summer,  and  last  year 
effected  a  lodgement  in  my  chest.  Since  it  departed  I 
have  used  more  exercise  and  a  more  generous  diet,  and 
have  kept  in  better  condition  during  the  winter  than  for 
the  last  seven  years. 

My  "  Colloquies"  have  long  been  stationary.  Yours 
will  give  them  a  fillip.  As  far  as  they  have  proceeded 
I  am  well  pleased  with  them.  My  "  Book  of  the  Church  " 
will  be  published  in  about  ten  weeks, —  perhaps  in  time 
to  be  forwarded  to  you  with  your  own  book. 

God  bless  you. 

ii.  S. 


1823.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  391 

To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  May  11.  1823. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

I  have  been  so  eagerly  at  work  since  the  seeds 
arrived,  that  I  did  not  even  allow  myself  time  to  thank 
you  for  them,  though  the  act  of  writing  to  you  is 
always  a  sort  of  relaxation  and  refreshment.  With  re- 
gard to  these  said  quasheys  (which,  I  believe,  is  their 
name, — first  cousins  to  the  squash  pumpkin),  the  best 
way  of  dressing  them  is  to  stew  them  in  cream.  Young 
cucumbers  might  be  as  good,  but  cucumbers  are  not  so 
easily  raised.  This  gourd  is  raised  with  less  trouble, 
and  produces  much  more  abundantly  than  any  other 
culinary  plant.  One  plant  which  we  raised  from  your 
last  year's  seeds  produced  a  gourd  which  exceeded  in 
bitterness  anything  I  ever  tasted ;  insomuch  that  I  con- 
cluded it  at  once  to  be  the  very  identical  fruit  of 
Zaccoum's  bitter  tree*,  to  eat  of  which,  according  to  the 
Mohammedans,  is  part  of  the  punishment  of  the  damned. 

It  is  frightful  to  think  of  what  I  have  to  do  before  I 
can  start  for  London  !  But  I  am  in  deep  water,  and 
must  swim  for  it.  My  *'  Book  of  the  Church"  was  in- 
tended to  be  one  duodecimo  volume,  —  it  will  be  two 
octavos.  I  send  off  by  this  post  the  third  sheet  of  the 
second  volume,  and  am  50  pages  a-head  of  the  printer, 
six  of  my  pages  making  one  printed  sheet.  But  I  have 
yet  100  pages  to  write  —  vce  mihi!  I  should  tliink 
nothing  of  this,  if  I  did  not  wish  to  be  in  town  at  this 

*  See  Note  from  the  "  Koran"  on  the  lines  of  Thalaba  .  — 
"  Belike  he  shall  exchange  to  day 
Ilis  dainty  Paradise, 
For  other  dwelling,  and  its  cups  of  joy 
For  the  unallayable  bitterness 
Of  Zaccoum's  fruit  accurst." 

Book  vii.  16.,  One  Vol.  Edit.  p.  271. 
c  c  4 


392  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

time,  and  were  not  in  danger  of  wanting  the  produce 
before  it  arises.  The  book,  nevertheless,  is  a  good  ticket 
in  the  wheel, —  much  more  likely,  I  think,  to  produce 
permanent  profit  than  any  which  I  have  yet  sent  into 
the  world.  If  I  were  a  clergyman,  most  certainly  it 
would  make  my  fortune. 

What  do  you  think  my  daughter  says?  —  that  she 
will  wear  in  a  brooch  that  relic  of  poor  Snivel  which  I 
have  religiously  preserved  (now  thirty  years  *  )  ! —  if 
you  or  I  will  give  her  a  very  handsome  one  to  wear  it 
in  ;  and  she  consents  that  on  the  inner  side  of  the 
brooch,  locket,  or  shrine  there  be  this  inscription  —  Oh 
RARE  Snivel  !  I  have  a  lock  of  your  hair  which  is  of 
the  same  date. 

I  have  two  barrels  of  cider  in  my  cellar,  and  one  of 
strong  beer, —  thanks  to  Lightfoot  and  John  May. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Right  Hon.  C.  W.  W.  Wynn,  M.P. 

Keswick,  June  1.  1823. 
My  dear  Wynn, 

I  thought  to  have   seen  you  ere  this,  and  now 

begin  to  fear  that  when  I  reach  London  you  may  have 

taken   wing  for  Wales,  if  Mrs.  Company  can  spare  her 

husband. 

The  turn  of  affairs  in  Spain  would  have  pleased  me 
better  had  it  been  under  a  better  man  than  O'Donnell. 

If,  however,  it  gives  the  French  an  excuse  for  marching 
back  again,  Europe  will  have  reason  to  be  thankful. 
As  for  the  restoration  of  order  in  Spain,  I  see  no  pros- 

*  As  I  write  this,  poor  Snivel's  hair  is  before  mejVrapped  up  in 
the  same  identical  piece  of  paper! 


1823.  ROBERT   SOUTnEY.  393 

pect  of  it.  The  habits  of  obedience  and  industry  are 
destroyed.  Tliere  must  be  a  strong  and  settled  govern- 
ment before  they  can  be  restored  ;  and  where  is  that 
government  to  find  revenues  for  its  support?  The 
French  invasion  has  done  some  good  by  giving  the 
opposition  so  happy  an  opportunity  of  exposing  them- 
selves. 

I  have  got  the  nevi^  edition  of  Burnet,  at  your'sugges- 
tion.  The  book  pleases  me  less  than  it  did  when  1 
first  read  it  some  ten  or  twelve  years  ago.  I  know  not 
whether  it  has  been  noticed  that  when  Queen  Mai'y 
was  thought  to  be  pregnant,  there  was  just  the  same 
readiness  and  disposition  to  believe  that  a  suppositious 
child  would  be  palmed  upon  the  nation,  as  prevailed 
at  the  birth  of  James's  unhappy  son.  It  struck  me 
forcibly  in  reading  old  John  Fox  (with  whom  I  have 
been  busy  of  late),  and  I  think  something  to  the  same 
purport  is  in  Holinshed  also. 

If  a  new  museum  is  to  be  built,  or  a  building  for  the 
King's  library,  pray  use  your  influence  that  it  may  be 
made  fireproof.  A  very  trifling  additional  expense  will 
effect  this. 

I  am  sorry  Reginald  Heber  accepted  your  bishop- 
ric. So  I  dare  say  are  all  his  friends ;  and  probably  he 
was  in  some  degree  influenced  by  feeling  that  he  made 
a  sacrifice  of  his  inclinations  in  so  doing.  I  think  he  is 
one  of  those  men  who,  though  altogether  fit  for  the 
situation,  might  yet  have  been  more  usefully  employed 
at  home.  There  is  an  account  of  the  first  transactions 
of  the  Portuguese  in  India,  in  one  of  the  native  lan- 
guages, which  I  wish  he  could  persuade  somebody  to 
translate,  in  the  "Asiatic  Researches."  The  MSS.,  if 
I  remember  rightly,  are  in  possession  of  the  missionaries 
at  Serampore.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

P.S.  Your  godson,  thank  God,  goes  on  well.     I  am 


394  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

fighting  against  my  annual  catarrh,  according  to  my 
brother  Henry's  prescriptions.  But  the  Doctor  is  too 
far  from  his  patient. 


To  the  Right  Hon.  C.  W.  W.  Wynn,  M.  P. 

Keswick,  June  17.  1823, 

My  dear  Wynn, 

******** 

It  was  of  "  Burnet's  Own  Times "  that  I  spoke. 
A  most  entertaining  book  it  is,  and  undoubtedly  a  very 
valuable  one;  but  its  value  consists  altogether  in  the 
materials,  which  are  sometimes  somewhat  the  worse  for 
the  workmanship. 

Have  you  seen  Sharon  Turner's  third  volume  ?  The 
York  and  Lancaster  period  is  given  better  than  by  any 
other  author, —  very  much  so.  But  he  has  hurried  over 
Henry  the  Seventh's  reign. 

I  find  in  Strada  that  Leicester  engaged  to  turn 
Catholic,  and  bring  over  the  kingdom  if  the  Spanish 
Court  would  further  his  design  of  marrying  Elizabeth. 
The  letters  of  the  Spanish  ambassador,  communicating 
this  to  his  government,  were  in  Strada's  hands. 

The  wisest  thing  which  the  Royalist  Government  in 
Spain  could  do  would  be,  to  restore  the  Cortes  accord- 
ing to  its  ancient  form.  With  this  shadow  of  liberty 
appearances  might  be  saved,  and  an  able  ministry  might 
prepare  the  nation  for  substantial  freedom,  of  which 
they  arc  at  this  time  incapable.  In  Portugal  I  know  it 
was  not  the  absolute  government  which  disgusted  the 
better  order  of  men,  and  made  their  hearts  revolt,  but 
the  odious  and  scandalous  perversion  of  justice,  which 
made  every  petty  magistrate  a  tyrant.  The  fair  adminis- 
tration of  the  Iciws  (which  in  the  main  were  good)  and 


1823.  ROBEllT   SOUTHEY.  395 

a  Habeas  Corjms  Act  would  have  remedied  half  the 
evils  in  Portugal.  Concerning  Spain  I  cannot  speak 
with  the  same  knowledge,  but  I  believe  that  in  this  re- 
spect what  is  true  of  the  one  country  will  for  the  most 
part  apply  to  the  other.  But  supposing  that  wise  admi- 
nistrations could  be  formed  in  both  countries  (and  what 
a  hopeless  expectation  is  this  !)  where  are  they  to  find 
revenues  ?  and  how  to  be  supported  till  national  tran- 
quillity, and   with  it    industry  and  prosperity,   can   be 

restored  ?     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Hickman,  Esq.,  §'c. 

Keswick,  June  29.  1823. 

My  dear  R., 

I  am  very  much  gratified  at  finding  that  the 
inscriptions  have  pleased  you,  and  am  not  a  little  sur- 
prised, as  well  as  pleased,  by  your  intention  of  com- 
mitting them  to  the  lapidary. 

My  error  was  not  in  supposing  Telford  to  have  been 
a  Highlander  (for  I  knew  he  was  a  townsman  of 
Mickle's,  and  of  Sir  J.  Malcolm,  as  well  as  Pasley ;  I 
did  not  know  that  Herries  was  a  Scotchman),  but 
in  applying  to  Scotland  in  general  the  application 
(which  has  often  been  given  it)  of  the  land  of  hills, 
when  in  that  situation  the  words  should  seem  to  denote 
the  Highlands,  I  have  altered  it  thus: — 

"  Thus  bylier  son 

Ennobled  and  enriched,  in  grateful  pride 
Scotland  enrolls  among  her  heritors 
Of  earthly  immortality  his  name."* 

The   additional   matter    which    you    have  suggested 

*  This  was  altered  afterwards.  See  "  Inscriptions  for  the  Cale- 
donian Canal,"  Poems,  p.  181.,  One  Vol.  Edit. 


396  LETTEliS    OF 


1823. 


cannot  be  embodied  in  the  other  inscription,  because 
every  sentence  grows  out  of  that  which  preceded  it,  and 
there  is  no  place  where  I  could  fit  it  in  without  a  solu- 
tion of  continuity.  This  is  my  present  opinion,  after 
having  taken  counsel  with  my  pillow,  and  looked  wist- 
fully at  the  subject  since.  If  it  appears  in  the  same 
light  to  me  to-morrow,  I  will  j)lant  what  I  cannot  suc- 
ceed in  inserting  as  a  graft,  and  make  a  third  inscrip- 
tion, noticing  the  principal  features  of  the  work,  the 
time  and  cost  therein  employed  (if  I  can  manage  the 
subject),  and  the  civilising  tendency  of  the  labour  as 
contrasted  with  similar  works  in  ancient  times  when 
performed  by  slaves  or  prisoners.  The  position  may 
very  fitly  be  designated  by  help  of  Glengarry,  as  you 
suggest,  and  the  two  inscriptions  be  placed  on  the  same 
monument  vis-a-vis,  after  the  Irish  fashion ;  or  the 
former  be  transferred  to  Clachnacharry,  as  the  mouth  of 
the  glen  on  that  side.     God  bless  you. 


To  John  Richnan,Esq.,  ^c. 

Keswick,  July  5.  1823. 

My  dear  R., 

The  inclosed  inscription  is  but  too  long  without 
noticing  any  localities ;  nor  are  they  needful,  as  its 
place  on  the  summit  level  is  sufiiciently  designated.  I 
have  mentioned  the  number  of  locks,  the  aqueducts, 
culverts,  inlets,  and  overfalls;  the  deepening  of  Loch 
Orch,  the  ejectment  served  upon  the  rivers,  and  the 
great  difficulty  at  the  eastern  sea  lock;  these,  I  think, 
are  all  the  principal  features  and  works,  except  the 
raising  the  level  of  Loch  Lochy.  Inlet  is  the  word  I 
have   used,  because  I  observe  it  in  the  reports ;  other- 


182.'5.  ROBERT    SOUTHET.  397 

wise  I  think  intake  rather  to  be  preferred,  as  more 
peculiar,  and  bearing-,  in  its  honest  Dutch  form  of  com- 
position, a  good  ftimily  reference  to  overfall.  But  do 
you  point  out  anything  either  for  alteration,  omission, 
or  insertion,  and  I  will  spare  no  pains  in  the  correction. 
I  perceive  that  the  words  "mighty  work"  have  found 
their  way  into  all  three  inscriptions.  In  the  Banavie 
one,  therefore,  it  is  altered  to  great  attempt ;  and 
because  of  that  alteration,  in  the  line  but  one  above, 
instead  of  the  name  of  the  great  Architect,  I  have  sub- 
stituted "  The  Architect's  immortal  name."  But  find 
you  fault  wherever  you  can,  and  I  also  will  very  watch- 
fully examine  and  amend. 

If  you  stumble  at  the  word  "gyre"  it  is  an  autho- 
rised word,  and  a  Scotchman  has  no  right  to  know  that 
it  is  not  in  common  use  in  England.  The  main  reason 
for  preferring  it  to  "  sweep,"  wliich  would  express  the 
meaning  sufficiently  well  (though  not  so  peculiarly),  is, 
that  the  word  preceding  ends  with  s,  and  would  occasion 
too  marked  a  sihilance  to  be  admitted  without  neces- 
sity. 

The  application  of  poetry  to  such  subjects  as  this, 
recognised,  you  know,  in  the  "  Triads,"  is  one  of  its 
three  utilities.  I  begun,  long  since,  a  series  upon  the 
events  of  the  "Peninsular  War"  (that  is,  those  in 
which  our  army  was  concerned),  and  the  British  officers 
of  distinction  who  fell  in  them.  About  half  the  series 
is  written,  and  I  shall  publish  them  when  the  "  His- 
tory" is  completed. 

I  send  you  also  an  *'  Ode  to  the  Praise  and  Glory  of 
Scotland,"  for  the  sake  of  the  sixth  stanza.  It  needs 
some  further  amendment  before  it  sees  the  light.  There 
is  a  companion  to  it  concerning  Ireland,  which  contains 
some  wholesome  truth  ;  but  it  ends  lamely,  because  a 
just  foresight  prevented  me  from  winding  it  up  with 
any  vaticination  in  praise  of  Marquis  Wellesley. 


398  LETTERS   OF  1823, 

My  brother  Henry's  appointment  is  owing  to  Sir 
William  Knighton.  They  were  intimate  at  Edinburgh. 
He  is  now  in  the  fair  w^ay  to  fortune. 

Does  Peel  know  what  he  is  doing  in  admitting  the 
Catholics  to  vote  ?  That  whenever  the  scale  is  doubtful 
here  in  the  North,  they  will  turn  it  in  favour  of  the 
oppo  ?  That  in  England  they  have  increased  sevenfold 
in  the  last  thirty  years,  being  at  this  time  more  nume- 
rous than  the  Methodists  ?  and  that  in  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  their  rapid  increase 
in  the  Highlands  has  been  represented  as  the  most  im- 
minent evil  ?     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  Sfc. 

Keswick,  Aug.  19.  1823. 

By  this  night's  post  I  send  Murray  the  first  part  of 
an  article  upon  Charles  the  Second's  reign,  for  which  the 
new  edition  of  Burnet  gives  occasion.  The  Portuguese 
ambassador's  relation  supplies  me  with  some  curious 
facts;  and  without  entering  into  any  detail,  but  treating 
merely  upon  the  changes  in  society  which  were  going 
on  during  that  reign,  the  subject  would  afford  matter 
for  three  or  four  papers.  You  have  added  a  drawing  to 
a  strange  account  of  an  aerostatic  machine  in  one  of  the 
volumes  of  the  "  Papeis  Politicos."  I  have  found  an 
earlier  account  of  the  same  kind,  equally  strange,  in 
Sylvius's  continuation  of  Aitzema's  "  History."  both 
which  I  shall  here  bring  forward.  It  is  curious  to  ob- 
serve how  long  men  play  with  discoveries  before  they 
perceive  how  to  apply  them  ! 

In  a  fortnight  I  sliall  have  finished  this  Paper,  and 
a   month  more   will  finish   my  Ecclesiastical   Subject ; 


1823.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  399 

my  ways  and  means  will  then,  I  trust,  be  pretty  well 
provided  for  for  some  time  to  come,  and  I  shall  set  forth 
for  London,  bringing  Edith  May  with  me.  She  has 
often  been  ailing  this  season,  and  is,  I  think,  just  in  that 
state  of  health  in  which  good  medical  advice  is  likely  to 
be  useful. 

Landor  tells  me  he  has  sent  me  a  box  of  books, 
about  seventy  volumes  of  all  sorts,  mostly  very  old  ones. 
I  have  desired  Longman  to  look  out  for  them  at  the  Cus- 
tom Plouse.  The  collection  is  a  very  curious  one,  and 
heartily  glad  shall  I  be  to  see  it  arrive.  He  is  living  at 
Florence,  and  urges  me  to  visit  him  there,  which  I  will 
gladly  do  whenever  I  can  afford  time  and  means  for 
passing  a  winter  in  Italy.  And  this,  I  dare  say,  I  shall 
one  day  be  able  to  accomplish. 

I  must  endeavour  to  see  if  some  of  the  Doctor's  Por- 
tuguese friends  can  procure  the  sermons  of  Padre  Anto- 
nio das  Chagas.  He  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  character 
as  well  as  great  abilities,  and  I  am  sure  that  much  will 
be  found  there  relating  to  the  manners  of  his  age.  When 
may  we  expect  news  of  the  Catalan  history  ?  I  should 
be  very  impatient  for  it,  and  not  a  little  provoked  with 
Murray,  if  I  had  not  plenty  of  employment  during  the 
delay. 

Little  by  little  I  am  getting  an  insight  into  the  Teu- 
tonic language,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  reading  the 
old  German  romances,  and  the  poems  of  the  Minne- 
singers, and  tracing  their  connection  with  the  early 
poetry  of  this  country.  I  therefore  take  half  an  hour 
of  the  "  Saxon  Chronicle  "  every  night.  Li  all  studies  of 
this  kind  a  pupil  or  fellow  student  is  the  best  teacher. 
However,  I  find  that  I  can  get  on  alone,  though  neither 
so  fast  nor  so  pleasantly.  Edward  should  help  me  if 
he  was  near  enough.  When  he  can  command  his  hours 
of  leisure,  I  shall  earnestly  wish  him  to  take  up  the 
German  grammar,  and  ground  himself  in  that  language. 


400  LETTERS   OP 


1823. 


after  which  the  acquirement  of  any  other  will  be  mere 
amusement  to  him.     Nothing  could  be  so  gratifying  to 
me  as  to  think  that  he    would   profit  as  much  by  my 
collections  as  I  have  done,  and  am  doing,  by  yours. 
Love  to  my  aunt  and  the  children.    God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  John  Rickman,  Esq.,  Sfc, 

Keswick,  Sept  9.  1821. 

My  dear  R., 

Among  the  many  reasons  which  concurred  in 
delaying  my  reply  to  your  last,  the  most  important  was, 
that  I  had  an  opportunity  of  showing  Wordsworth  the 
inscriptions. 

You  will  see    that  I  have   made   all   the  alterations 
which  you  suggested.     Menai  certainly   sounds   better 
than  Menai.     What  the  Welch  pronunciation  is  I  know 
not.     Gowalchmai  *  is  strongly  aspirated  upon  the  X. 
The  inscription  is  improved  by  curtaihng  it.      The  same 
good  effect  is  produced  in  the  first  by  striking  out  the 
lines  to  which  you  object  concerning  *'  The  Parent's  glad 
Return."     With  regard  to  the  cry  against  expenditure, 
I  more  than  doubted  whether  the  lines  were  properly 
introduced  there,  and  have  therefore  altered  the  passage. 
It  will  be  time  enough,  however,  to  send  you  the  two 
others  in  their  corrected  form  hereafter.     Glede  is  in 
common  use  with  us,  and  certainly  a  preferable  word  to 
kite.      Ger-falcon  I  take  to  be  derived  from  the  Arabic, 
through  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Glrafalte. 

I  am  reading  the  '•'  Saxon  Chronicle."  The  poems 
incorporated  in  it  are  much  more  difficult  than  the 
prose ;  but  I  must  have  more  insight  into  the  language 

*  "  The  old  Gowalchmai's  not  degenerate  child." 

Mai>oc  in  Wales,  &c.,  The  Gorsedd.    One  Vol.  Ed.  p.  341. 


1823.  ROBERT    SOUTUEY.  401 

before  I  can  explain  the  cause.  When  I  shall  have 
finished  this,  I  mean  to  begin  upon  the  "  Gothic  Gos- 
pels," and  then  to  the  "  Edda."  I  shall  then  be  able 
to  see  what  there  is  in  the  Minnesingers  and  the  old 
German  metrical  romances;  and  then  I  shall  need  no 
further  preparation  for  beginning  the  *'  History  of 
English  Manners  and  Literature,"  subjects  which,  I 
think,  may  well  be  combined,  because  it  is  chiefly  in  the 
latter  that  the  former  are  preserved. 

There  is  a  rumour  that  Mr.  Telford  will  be  in  this 
part  to  plan  the  road  across  Alston  Moor.  If  you  have 
an  opportunity,  pray  tell  him  that  I  shall  certainly  not 
be  absent  a  single  night  from  home  till  the  beginning 
of  November.  Last  year  I  missed  him,  by  accepting 
an  invitation  to  meet  Mr.  Canning  ;  and  the  vexation 
which  this  gave  me  made  me,  I  believe,  less  unwilling  to 
decline  a  similar  invitation  last  week. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Neville  White,  ^»c. 

Keswick,  Sept,  11.  1823. 

My  dear  Neville, 

I  am  very  glad  that  the  desire  of  introducing  a 
young  officer  to  you  puts  an  end  to  all  reasons  for 
longer  delaying  a  letter.  Mr.  Charles  Malet,  by  whom 
this  will  be  delivered  to  you,  is  brother  to  Sir  Alex- 
ander Malet.  His  father,  the  late  Sir  Charles  Malet, 
was  many  years  resident  at  Poonah,  the  Mahratta  court, 
at  a  time  when  the  Mahrattas  were  the  most  formidable 
power  in  Lidia.  He  was  also  uncle  to  General  Peachey's 
first  wife,  a  woman  for  whom  I  had  the  highest  esteem 
and  regard.*     Her  two  sisters  (old  friends  of  mine)  are 

*  "  I  thought  of  her  whom  I  had  so  often  seen  plying  her  little 
skiff  upon  that  glassy  water  —  the  Lady  of  the  Lake.     It  was  like 
VOL.  III.  D    D 


402  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

now  inhabiting  the  Island  with  Lady  Malet,  the  General 
having  lent  it  them  for  this  season.  And  the  young 
officer  (I  have  neglected  to  ask  whether  he  be  ensign 
or  lieutenant)  having  been  removed  from  Ipswich  to 
Norwich,  Lady  Malet,  who  is  a  most  estimable  person, 
is  very  thankful  for  so  good  an  introduction  as  this 
which  I  have  offered  for  her  son. 

Now  for  my  movements.  Instead  of  seeing  you  in 
the  spring  or  summer,  it  will  be  in  mid- winter.  I  set 
out  at  the  end  of  October  with  my  daughter,  Edith  ; 
and  my  intention  is  to  make  my  western  visits  first,  and 
then  escort  her  to  your  hospitable  roof;  making  some 
two  days'  halt  at  Cambridge  on  the  way,  and  with 
Clarkson  (near  Ipswich)  on  the  way  back.  This  will 
hardly  be  before  January  has  begun,  at  the  latter  end 
of  your  Christmas  festivities.  My  book  of  the  Church 
will  precede  me.  I  am  now  set-to  to  complete  it,  hav- 
ing laid  it  aside  for  some  time  in  order  to  be  ready 
with  a  paper  for  the  next  "  Review." 

You  would  recognise  me  in  the  last  number,  on  the 
growth  of  Infidelity,  where,  as  usual,  I  have  to  com- 
plain of  injurious  curtailments.  When  I  see  Murray, 
I  mean  to  make  some  arrangements  with  him  for  pub- 
lishing a  selection  of  my  papers  in  a  separate  form ;  and 
then  I  shall  restore  what  has  been  struck  out  (where  it 
can  be  recovered),  and  in  other  respects  improve  them. 
The  paper  which  I  have  just  finished  is  on  the  reign  of 
Charles  II., — the  new  edition  of  "  Burnet's  own  Times  " 
giving  occasion  for  it. 

A  singular  and  interesting  person  called  on  me  about 

a  poet's  dream,  or  a  vision  of  romance  to  behold  her,  ....  and 
like  a  vision  or  a  dream  she  has  departed ! 

"  O  gentle  Emma,  o'er  a  lovelier  form 
Than  thine,  earth  never  closed  ;  nor  e'er  did  Heaven 
Receive  a  purer  spirit  from  the  world  !" 

Progress  and  Prospects  of  Society^  vol.  i.  p.  239. 


1823.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  403 

ten  days  ago,  and  told  me  that  he  had  had  some  ac- 
quaintance with  you  in  the  way  of  business  formerly, — 
Mr.  Morrison  of  Fore  Street.*  He  was  bound  to  New 
Lanark,  with  the  intention  of  vesting  5000/.  in  the  pro- 
posed experiment  of  an  Owenite  Quadrangle,  if  what 
he  sees  at  Owen's  own  establishment  should  confirm 
him  in  his  present  opinion  of  the  scheme.  I  was  ex- 
ceedingly pleased  with  him.  He  talked  to  me  about 
the  Free-thinking  Christians,  with  whom  Cokes,  Thomp- 
son, and  Fearon  are  the  chiefs  of  the  synagogue.  With 
these  persons  he  appeared  to  be  intimate,  and  very 
much  to  admire  the  society,  on  account  of  the  strict 
discipline  which  they  observe,  and  the  strict  regularity 
of  conduct  which  they  require  from  their  members.  A 
clerk  (Dillon  by  name)  in  whom  he  has  great  con- 
fidence, is  one  of  their  preachers,  or  lecturers,  and  the 
principal  defender  of  their  faith  in  their  magazine.  I 
found,  however,  that  Morrison  was  far  from  being  satis- 
fied with  their  creed.  We  had  a  good  deal  of  conver- 
sation on  the  subject ;  and  he  took  down  from  me  the 
title  of  some  books  which  may  assist  the  better  ten- 
dency of  his  own  mind  at  this  time.  His  place  of 
residence  is  Balham  Hill,  where  I  shall  nrobably  see 
him,  being  within  an  easy  walk  of  my  uncle's  house  at 
Streatham. 

Hughes  the  traveller  was  here  with  his  bride,  early 
in  the  season ;  and  Professor  Sedgewick  is  now  ham- 
mering away  in  the  heart  of  Skiddaw.  We  are  now 
enjoying  fine  weather,  which  is  the.  more  delightful 
after  the  long  reign  of  St.  Swithin.  On  Monday  last 
we  had  a  grand  party  upon  Causey  Pike,  the  ascent  of 
which  you  will  remember.  We  were  thirteen  persons 
on  the  summit,  and  we  dined  by  the  side  of  the  stream 
below,  where  Mrs.  Southey  with  Mrs.  Coleridge  and  two 

*  Query.  —  Is  tills  the  Mr.  Morrison  referred   to  in  Raikes's 
Journal  ?  vol.  i.  p.  11. 

D  D  2 


404  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

Other  ladies,  who  were  not  equal  to  the  task  of  climbing 
the  mountain,  waited  for  us.  Cuthbert  remained  below 
with  his  mother  ;  the  other  young  ones  scaled  the  height 
like  goats.  To-day  we  have  a  lake  party,  and  my 
daughter,  Edith,  has  cut  out  more  expeditions  for  me, 
against  which  I  must  not  rebel,  for  if  they  impede  my 
pursuits  they  are  conducive  to  my  health. 

There  is  a  lady  of  our  party  to-day  who  has  published 
two  volumes  of  poetry,  which,  if  Mrs.  White  and  your 
sisters  have  not  read,  I  would  recommend  to  their 
perusal.  "  Ellen  Fitzarthur  "  is  the  title  of  one,  "  The 
Widow's  Tale  "  of  the  other.  There  is  nothing  in  them 
but  what  is  good  and  beautiful.  Miss  Bowles  has  not 
put  her  name  to  either.  She  is  in  very  delicate  health, 
but,  I  hope,  is  deriving  benefit  from  this  wholesome  air. 

Remember  us  most  kindly  to  all  your  circle,  and  tell 
me  how  transplantation  agrees  with  your  excellent 
mother.  Your  young  ones,  I  hope,  continue  to  thrive  ; 
I  shall  have  great  pleasure  in  seeing  them.  My  little 
Cuthbert  is  as  happy  as  health,  fine  weather,  and  the 
thoughts  of  making  a  fire  for  dinner  by  the  side  of  the 
lake  can  make  him.     God  bless  you,  my  dear  Neville. 

Yours  affectionately, 

R.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill,  ^c, 

Keswick,  Sept.  30,  1823. 
A  Hampshire  acquaintance  of  yours  is  here,  Mr. 
Portal,  with  his  wife  and  daughter.  The  young  lady, 
with  her  father,  joined  us  yesterday  in  a  caravan  excur- 
sion of  one-and-twenty  miles ;  a  caravan  it  may  be  called, 
for  the  party  consisted  of  nineteen  persons,  besides 
three  attendants,  three  carts,  and  five  saddle-horses. 
We  dined  on  the  pass  between  Buttermere  and  Borro- 
dale,  by  one  of  our  beautiful    mountain-streams.      The 


1823.  KOBEUT   SOUTUEY.  405 

pass  itself  always  reminds  me  of  a  place  between  Ousera 
and  Thorn ar,  where  a  large  tabular  fragment  of  rock  is 
shown  as  the  "  Mesa  dos  ladroens,^'  onl}'  that  the  moun- 
tains here  are  considerably  higher. 

Murray  sent  me  the  "  Q..  R."  in  a  frank  on  Satur- 
day. The  reviewal  of  my  first  volume  has  all  the  out- 
ward and  visible  marks  of  personal  civility  with  regard 
to  the  criticism  at  the  end.  I  have  not  inserted  the 
whole  of  any  state  paper,  but  have  given  as  much  of 
tliem  as  seemed  necessary  in  their  own  words.  The 
legends,  &c.,  to  which  the  writer  objects,  as  interrupt- 
ing the  narration,  are  introduced  always  to  relieve  it, 
and  as  elucidating  the  character  and  feeling  of  the  peo- 
ple. And  as  for  the  arrangement  of  the  Portuguese 
insurrection,  it  only  appears  defective  to  him  because 
he  is  accustomed  to  consider  Portugal  in  the  lump,  and 
not  to  regard  its  separate  provinces  as  he  would  do 
those  of  Spain.  I  do  not  know  who  wrote  the  paper. 
The  last  article  is  Blanco's ;  a  very  good  one  it  is. 
Indeed,  the  number  has  none  of  the  usual  faults  of  the 
•*  Review,"  except  that  there  is  a  worthless  article  upon 
the  worthless  subject  of  Political  Economy.  I  am 
quite  in  the  dark  concerning  the  management  of  the 
•'  Review,"  having  heard  nothing  from  Gilford  since  the 
commencement  of  his  illness,  except  a  complimentary 
message  upon  the  first  part  of  my  reviewal  of  Burnet, 
which  came  with  the  proof  sheets. 

I  must  get  another  paper  ready  before  I  leave  home, 
for  the  most  cogent  of  all  reasons,  and  in  fact  I  have 
this  day  made  a  large  stride  in  it.  Dr.  Dwight  (poor 
Humphrey's  friend)  aflTords  me  a  good  subject,  and  good 
materials  in  his  "  Travels."  The  miscellaneous  facts 
supply  matter  for  the  first  part  of  the  paper,  and  his 
political  opinion  and  speculation  text  enough  for  the 
remainder,  in  which  1  shall  at  the  same  time  change  the 
tone  of  tlie  "  Review '"  concerning  America,  and  intro- 

IJ  D  3 


406  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

duce  some  wholesome  truths  which  it  behoves  both 
countries  to  understand.  As  this  requires  no  additional 
reading,  I  shall  not  be  long  about  it ;  possibly  I  may 
improve  it  in  the  proofs  when  I  reach  Streatham,  where 
I  know  you  have  the  "  Federalist."  I  shall  probably 
write  the  last  chapter  of  the  "  Book  of  the  Church" 
with  you,  possibly  the  two  last,  as  there  is  a  strong 
motive  for  not  delaying  my  departure  longer  than  the 
first  week  in  next  month.  Our  friends  on  the  Islands, 
four  in  number,  will  then  be  journeying  to  London,  and 
if  Edith  May  and  I  join  them  we  shall  fill  two  chaises, 
which  will  be  to  the  convenience  of  both  parties.  In 
this  case  we  shall  travel  leisurely,  and  see  sights  on  our 
way,  both  in  the  West  Riding  and  in  Derbyshire.  At 
Derby  we  must  part,  as,  if  Sir  George  Beaumont  is  at 
Coleorton,  I  must  pass  a  few  days  with  him.  The 
Beaumonts  are  now  old  acquaintances  of  mine,  and 
they  have  known  Edith  from  her  earliest  childhood. 
Sir  George  has  promised  me  a  picture. 

Oct.  10. 

At  length  GifFord  has  written  to  me.  He  tells  me 
that  he  has  promised  to  conduct  the  "  Review,"  if  he 
can,  to  the  60th  number,  and  then  he  will  have  done 
with  it,  if  he  has  life  and  strength  to  carry  it  so  far. 

A  curious  person   spent  an  evening  lately  with  me.       J 
He  is   a  Somersetshire  man,  who,  getting  engaged  as  a      I 
shopman  in  a  retail  haberdasher's  shop  a  few  years  ago,      " 
struck  out  a  new  plan   of  doing  business,  by  which  he 
made  the  annual  returns  of  the  concern  above  a  million, 
and  the  profits  from  30,000Z.  to  40,000/.,  half  ruining 
thereby  all  the  old-established  houses  in  that  line,  com- 
pelling  them  to   act  upon  the  same  plan.     He  married 
his  master's  daughter,  and,  at  an  age  certainly  not  ex- 
ceeding four  or  five-and-thirty,  is  at  this  moment  worth 
not  less  than  1 50,000/.     The  strangest  part  of  the  story 
is,  that  he  seems  to  have  no  love  either  for  business  or 


1823.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  407 

money.  He  was  bred  up  as  a  Dissenter,  and  so  became 
of  course  a  Radical,  and  in  natural  process  an  unbe- 
liever. The  success  in  life  has  cured  him  of  Radicalism, 
and  a  very  inquiring  mind  has  not  allowed  him  to  rest 
in  unbelief,  and  he  is  now  on  his  "  Pilgrim's  Progress," 
having  just  got  free  from  the  Free-thinking  Christians, 
and  in  a  mood  which  made  him  very  willing  to  receive 
a  few  hints  from  me  concerning  his  journey.  When  I 
have  added  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  Owen,  at  Lanark, 
to  look  at  that  establishment,  and  if  he  found  it  such  as 
Owen  reports  it,  to  vest  5,000^.  in  the  projected  ex- 
periment of  the  Owenites'  community,  you  will  know 
as  much  of  this  singular  man  as  I  do. 

God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  the  Right  Hon.  C.  W,  W.  TFynn,  M.P. 

Keswick,  Oct.  31.  1823. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

The  Portuguese  Cortes  met  in  one  chamber. 
The  nobles,  the  higher  clergy,  secular  and  regular,  the 
judges,  certain  ministers,  the  governors  of  cities  and 
towns,  and  such  iidalgos  as  had  full  power  in  their  own 
domains,  had  seats  there.  The  commons  consisted  of 
two  deputies  from  every  corporate  town,  and  were  some- 
thing fewer  than  200.  How  they  were  originally  chosen 
I  do  not  know,  whether  by  the  municipal  authorities,  or 
nominated  by  the  immediate  lord,  as  they  were  latterly 
by  the  government;  but  certainly  there  was  nothing 
like  a  popular  election.  The  principle  of  the  Portu- 
guese constitution  is  the  very  reverse  of  ours.  The 
power  of  making  laws  and  imposing  taxes  is  vested  in 
the  King,  but  the  consent  of  the  Cortes  is  required. 
The  King  is  to  advise  with  his  counsellors,  and  the 
Cortes  to  give  a  popular  and  legal  sanction  to  the  mea- 

D    D    4 


408  LETTERS   OF  1823. 

sures  of  government.  They  have  been  disused  since 
the  reign  of  Pedro  II.  I  have  a  MS.  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  that  which  was  held  in  1698,  which  was  perhaps 
the  last ;  but  as  yet  I  have  neither  had  occasion  to  ascer- 
tain this,  nor  to  peruse  it. 

A  minister  of  Pombal's  capacity  and  courage  would 
find  no  other  difficulty  in  setting  Portugal  to  rights  than 
what  the  deficiency  of  revenue  must  occasion.  Nothing 
is  required  but  to  restore  the  ancient  forms,  and  give 
effect  to  good  laws.  The  corruption  of  justice  was  the 
crying  evil  in  that  kingdom.  If  this  were  remedied, 
and  the  laws  regularly  enforced,  Portugal  would  have 
nothing  to  apprehend  from  the  revolutionary  party.  It 
was  not  against  the  principle  of  the  government  that 
they  revolted,  but  against  the  stagnation  and  putridity; 
indeed,  no  words  can  be  too  strong  to  characterise  its 
abuses.  The  one  thing  which  they  should  borrow  from 
us  is  the  Habeas  Corpus.  I  know  nothing  which  would 
be  of  so  much  importance  to  them.  There  is  neither 
public  feeling  nor  sense  of  private  honour  to  prevent 
interference  with  the  course  of  law.  I  rather  wish  than 
hope  there  may  be  a  minister  who  feels  as  he  ought 
upon  this  subject,  and  who  will  endeavour  to  supply 
their  place  by  the  fear  of  punishment.  My  opinion  of 
the  Portuguese  is,  that  in  their  civil  and  their  military 
character  they  would  be  found  of  all  people  the  most 
easy  to  regenerate ;  but  there  is  as  much  to  be  done  in 
every  department  of  the  state  as  there  was  in  the  army. 

I  leave  home  on  Monday  next,  and  if  the  weather 
(contrary  to  its  present  appearance)  should  allow  us  to 
linger  on  the  way,  we  shall  not  reach  Sir  G.  Beaumont's 
before  that  day  week.  With  him  we  shall  stay  two  or 
three  days,  and  then  make  the  best  of  our  way  to  town. 
Most  probably  I  shall  arrive  in  Queen  Anne  Street  on 
the  15th. 

Doyle  has   written   to  offer  me  papers  which  will  be 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  409 

very  useful.  My  best  information  concerning  the  pro- 
ceedings in  Catalonia  and  Avagon,  in  the  early  part  of 
1809,  have  been  derived  from  his  correspondence  with 
Frere.  I  shall  be  glad  if  an  opportunity  offers  of  seeing 
the  Duke  of  Wellington  partly  for  this  reason,  that  the 
want  of  any  direct  communication  from  him  has  been  on 
one  occasion  a  disadvantage  to  me.  Lord  Frederick  Ben- 
tinck  volunteered  to  procure  papers  for  me  from  Lord 
Hill,  and  Lord  Hill  refused  upon  the  ground  that  he 
had  not  the  example  of  the  Duke  to  make  him  feel 
warranted  in  imparting  them.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

P.S.  The  Bishop  of  Limerick  has  invited  me  to  visit 
him.     I  shall  wait  till  the  next  rebellion  is  over. 


To  the  Rev.  Neville  White,  Sfc. 

Keswick,  Feb.  19.  1824. 

My  dear  Neville, 

Here  I  am,  once  more  at  my  desk,  by  my  own 
fire-side.  My  movements  were  all  punctually  performed, 
as  they  had  been  pre-planned.  I  reached  home  on  Sun- 
day morning,  without  impediment  or  mishap  of  any 
kind,  and,  thank  God,  found  all  well.  Some  little  time 
is  required  before  I  can  fairly  get  into  joint  again,  after 
so  complete  a  dislocation ;  and  I  bring  buck  with  me  a 
formidable  accumulation  of  letters,  which  followed  and 
found  me  withersoever  I  went,  and  which  it  was  not 
possible  for  me  to  answer  during  so  hurried  a  mode  of 
life. 

I  spoke  about  the  piracy  to  Longman  and  Rees. 
They  argued  the  point  like  two  lawyers;  the  former 
taking  my  view  of  the  question,  the  latter  holding  an 
opinion  that  the  rascals  may  shelter  themselves  under 


410  LETTERS   OF  1824. 

the  letter  of  the  law.  They  promised  to  consult  Tur- 
nei",  and  do  everything  which  could  be  done.  I  saw 
Turner  also,  and  told  him  in  what  manner  I  considered 
the  case.  The  matter  will  now  be  properly  investi- 
gated,— whether  justly  determined  is  another  thing.  It 
sets  upon  the  wording  of  the  act ;  and  if  words  in  law 
will  bear  an  acceptation  by  which  villany  can  be  covered, 
and  rogues  escape  punishment,  that  interpretation  is  the 
one  which  the  craft  will  give  it,  as  if  one  of  the  main 
uses  of  the  law  were  to  defeat  justice. 

They  would  have  Doctored  me  at  Cambridge  if  I 
would  have  waited  another  day  for  it;  but  my  engage- 
ments were  made  in  London,  and  feathers  of  this  kind 
are  not  worth  having  when  fees  are  to  be  paid  for 
them  ;  a  civil  letter  of  thanks  is  price  enough  for  them. 
We  had  fine  weather  there,  so  that  Edith  saw  the  place 
to  advantage,  and  delighted  with  it  she  was  ;  though  I 
must  tell  you  that  when  we  drove  into  the  town  she 
took  St.  John's  for  a  prison.  On  the  Thursday  we 
breakfasted  with  Tillbrook,  and  the  coach  took  us  up 
at  Peter  House  Gate.  Charlesworth  came  to  the  coach 
door  at  Ipswich  as  I  was  stepping  into  it.  I  was 
pleased  with  the  country  about  that  place,  and  with 
Bury  also.  By  the  hasty  view  I  had  of  it  it  appeared 
to  be  one  of  the  prettiest  country  towns  in  England. 

It  was  a  disappointment  to  me  not  to  see  Mr.  Sewell 
in  town,  and  thank  him  for  his  hospitality  and  kindness. 
I  wish  there  was  a  prospect  of  my  being  able  to  return 
them  here.  You,  however,  I  hope  and  trust,  will  re- 
member that  you  have  more  than  half  promised  to  take 
a  course  of  mountain  exercise  and  mountain  air  with 
me  early  in  the  season,  as  the  likeliest  and  best  means 
of  recruiting  your  health,  and  fairly  re-establishing  it. 
Mrs.  Neville  has  given  you  leave  of  absence,  and  all 
you  have  to  do  is  to  provide  in  time  for  your  churches ; 
set  about  that  business  without  delay,  and  set  off  for 


1824.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  411 

Keswick  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  leaves  begin  to 
open.  You  cannot  fix  a  better  time  for  your  departure 
than  May-day.  I  am  very  confident  that  the  air  here, 
and  the  continuous  exercise,  will  be  of  more  service  to 
you  than  any  regimen  or  any  remedies  which  could  be 
prescribed. 

And  now  I  must  thank  you  and  Mrs.  Neville,  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sewell,  and  your  excellent  mother  and 
sisters  also,  for  the  truly  kind  and  gratifying  reception 
which  you  gave  us  at  Norwich.  Short  and  seldom  as 
such  meetings  are,  they  are  nevertheless  sunny  spots  in 
life ;  and  henceforth,  when  I  make  one  of  my  expedi- 
tions to  the  south,  I  shall  look  upon  it  as  part  of  my 
business  to  strike  eastward  on  the  way.  You  are,  and  you 
have  deserved  to  be,  a  happy  man,  Neville.  Only  attend 
to  your  health,  to  which  nothing  can  be  so  injurious  as 
sitting  and  studying  too  much.  You  must  resume,  as 
far  as  possible,  those  active  habits  to  which  you  were 
accustomed,  or  supply  their  place  as  you  can  by  some 
gymnastic  exercises  within  doors,  when  it  is  not  con- 
venient to  ride  or  walk.  Come  to  me,  and  I  will  en- 
deavour to  put  you  in  good  condition. 

My  book  appeared  to  be  going  ow,  that  is  to  say, 
going  off,  well  when  I  left  town.  I  take  my  chance 
for  the  profits,  which  appears  to  me  more  advisable 
than  it  would  have  been  to  accept  Murray's  offer  of 
700  guineas  for  the  copyright ;  for  if  the  work  should 
obtain  a  regular  sale  as  a  portion  of  English  history, 
containing  what  is  nowhere  else  to.  be  found  in  one 
succinct  and  continuous  view,  it  may  become  a  valuable 
property.  I  proceed  now  with  the  "  Peninsular  War," 
and  with  the  "  Tale  of  Paraguay."  The  latter  will  now 
be  my  main  object  till  it  is  completed. 

Remember  me  most  kindly  to  all  your  circle,  not 
forgetting  Miss  Lingani,  whose  gentle  and  winning 
countenance  I  remember  with  much  pleasure,  and  my 


412  LETTEKS   OF  1824. 

country  woman,  Miss  Edmunds,  herself  a  fair  proof  that 
good  things  come  from  Somersetshire.  I  may  send 
Cuthbert's  love  to  Mary- Anne,  if  she  will  not  accept  my 
own,  though,  perhaps,  she  likes  me  better  now  I  am  at 
a  distance.  Let  me  hear  of  you  and  yours.  My  god- 
son, 1  hope,  continues  to  go  on  well. 

1  liad  almost  forgotten  to  tell  you  that  Tillbrook  will 
secure  a  sizarship  for  Ebenezer  Elliott  at  Peter  House, 
and  do  for  him  whatever  else  may  be  in  his  power.  The 
father  is  apprised  of  this,  and  I  expect  daily  to  hear 
from  him  respecting  the  plan  to  be  adopted  till  the 
youth  is  qualified  for  college.  God  bless  you,  my 
dear  Neville. 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  Edith  May  Southey, 

Keswick,  March  12.  1824. 

My  Dear  E.  May, 
/  avi  to  give  notice, 
That  the  packages  arrived  on  Tuesday  last,  and  that  the 
tunic  and  trowsers  produced  a  most  extraordinary  meta- 
morphosis in  Cuthbert.  He  declared  that  he  must  now 
leave  off  all  his  childish  ways.  He  kept  his  hands  in 
his  pockets,  as  if  that  were  the  main  purpose  for  which 
hands  were  intended  ;  and  having,  unawares,  given  me  a 
kiss  after  tea,  lie  recollected  himself,  reddened  to  think 
of  the  impropriety  into  which  he  had  been  betrayed, 
and  exclaimed,  in  a  quick  tone,  half  anger,  half  mortifi- 
cation, "  Oh,  but  I've  left  off  kissing  !  "  For  your  com- 
fort, however,  I  may  assure  you  that  the  tunic  and 
trowsers  are  quietly  put  away  for  high  days  and  holy- 
days,  and  that  he  no  longer  insists  upon  the  decorum 
belonging  to  the  degree  which  he  has  taken  in  apparel. 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  413 

Montgomery's  two  volumes  of  "  Prose,  hy  a  Poet," 
were  left  behind.  They  had  been  lent  to  somebody,  I 
suppose.  When  they  turn  up,  let  them  be  sent  to 
Murray's,  to  come  in  one  of  his  parcels.  I  have  suc- 
ceeded in  stowing  away  the  whole  of  this  recent  cargo, 
and  the  books  from  Italy,  without  having  any  new 
shelves,  by  converting  four  duodecimo  shelves  in  the  or- 
gan-room into  three  octavo  ones,  and  removing  the  duo- 
decimo books  into  the  passage,  where  some  of  the  shelves 
have  been  pieced,  to  make  them  hold  a  double  row,^ 
octavos  behind,  sliorticums  in  front.  Another  change 
has  been,  to  fill  the  book-case  on  the  lower  landing- 
place  with  bound  books,  which  has  very  greatly  im- 
proved its  appearance. 

I  wrote  an  account  of  the  effect  produced  upon 
Mrs.  C.  by  the  unpacking  of  the  horn,  in  a  letter  to 
Bedford,  which  you  ought  to  see.  You  will  let  us 
know  when  you  are  low  in  purse,  and  I  will  desire  him 
to  supply  you.  I  will  supply  you,  also,  with  another 
pack  of  autographs.  By  the  by,  if  you  were  to  get 
yourself  a  little  book,  and  transcribe  into  it  these  brief 
extracts,  from  time  to  time,  as  they  pass  through  your 
hands,  you  would  find  yourself  possessed,  one  of  these 
days,  of  a  choice  collection  of  sentences  and  maxims,  and 
I  should  have  an  additional  reason  for  supplying  you.  * 

Your  drawing-books  are  likely  to  prove  as  useful  as 
you  wished  them  to  be.  All  three  girls  are  getting  on 
well,  and  Bertha  has  made  a  hopeful  attempt  at  co- 
louring a  butterfly.     What  shall  I  do    for    my  wine- 

*  The  advice  was  not  followed,  as  will  appear  from  the  following 
words  written  on  the  fly-leaf: — "This  little  book,  begun  by  Edith 
May  Southey,  remained  much  as  it  was  till  May,  1850.  It  then, 
on  my  wife's  birthday,  the  1st  of  May,  occurred  to  me  to  fill  it 
up  ;  and  I  have  done  so  from  my  occasional  and  diversified  reading 
in  difierent  languages.''  One  of  these  days  it  will  make  good 
reading  for  the  rail,  in  large  type. 


414  LETTERS   OF  1824. 

brewer  this  year  ?  I  am,  at  this  time,  drinking  your 
currant  wine,  and  I  assure  you,  that  some  bottles, 
marked  with  the  ignominious  name  of  puddle,  might 
have  very  well  passed  muster  for  Champagne.  One- 
third  of  the  bottle  was  puddle,  but  the  clear  part  was 
as  good  as  any  Champagne  I  ever  tasted  ;  the  main  dif- 
ference, almost  the  only  distinction,  being,  that  it  left 
no  unpleasant  tang  behind  it. 

Your  mother,  I  suppose,  has  told  you  all  the  business 
and  news  of  the  family.  Sara  is  secretary  for  triangular* 
affairs.  The  department  of  nonsense  is  all  that  is  left 
for  me,  and  in  that  you  shall  hear  from  me  officially 
sometimes.  My  love  to  Mrs.  Gonne  and  your  aunt, 
and  my  kind  remembrances  to  Lady  Malet,  Miss  C, 
and  Dame  Elizabeth. 

God  bless  you,  my  dear  child, 

It.  S. 


To  Dr.  H.  H.  Southey. 

Keswick,  April  26.  1824. 

My  dear  Harry, 

If  Westall  should  deposit  at  your  house  a  set  of 
the  engravings  for  "  Roderick,"  which  I  wish  to  send  to 
my  Dutch  translatress,  will  you  have  the  goodness  to 
transmit  them  to  Murray,  whom  I  have  intrusted  to 
pack  them  up  with  a  copy  of  the  "  Book  of  the  Church," 
and  despatch  the  parcel.  I  had  a  note  from  him,  the 
other  day,  saying  he  had  put  a  second  edition  of  that 
book  to  the  press.  Whether  the  engravings  are  pub- 
lished 1  do  not  know. 

I  am  profiting  by  the  communication  with  Holland. 

*  This  means  the  Doctor,  &c.,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  diagram 
on  the  front. 


1824.  ROBEIiT   SOUTHEY.  415 

A  veiy  well-informed  Mr.  Willem  de  Clercy  shows  a 
great  disposition  to  correspond  with  me,  and  answer 
my  enquiries  de  omnibus  rebus  et  quibusdam  aliis.  Oh, 
that  I  had  such  a  correspondent  at  Lisbon,  or  at  Madrid  ! 
1  find  him,  however,  very  useful,  and  shall  request 
Murray  forthwith  to  procure  for  me  some  German 
works  upon  the  Peninsular  War,  which  he  has  pointed 
out.  You  would  be  amused  at  his  letters,  which  are 
written  in  very  odd  English ;  but  I  wish  1  could  read 
Dutch  as  well. 

Bertha  is  to  return  to  Palace  Yard  this  day ;  we  have 
just  heard  from  her.  She  has  been  so  unwell  in  Sussex 
as  to  lie  in  bed  one  whole  day  and  great  part  of  the 
next, — the  effect,  I  suppose,  of  too  much  travelling  and 
excitement. 

In  reply  to  a  question,  how  she  liked  the  South 
Downs  ?  her  answer  is,  *'  To  tell  the  truth,  I  quite  de- 
spise them,  they  are  just  like  little  molehills."  What 
airs  these  young  mountaineers  give  themselves !  When 
she  is  a  little  older,  she  will  understand  that  downs  are 
not  to  be  compared  with  mountains,  and  learn  to  enjoy 
any  scenery  that  is  really  enjoyable, —  and  there  is  very 
little  natural  scenery  which  is  not  so.* 

Having  given  up  all  hope  of  getting  Oiivares's  "  His- 
tory of  the  War  in  Catalonia,"  I  have  to-day  set  upon 
that  part  of  my  subject  from  such  materials  as  I  possess, 
and  the  second  volume,  accordingly,  will  go  to  press  in 
a  few  days. 

What  will  become  of  Portugal  with  such  a  creature 
as  D.  Miguel  for  heir-apparent !  He  seems  very  much 
to  resemble  Affonso  VI.,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  such 

*  It  is  just  as  her  father  predicted  I  This  day,  7th  Sept.,  1 855, 
on  leaving  West  Tarring,  as  she  looked  from  the  Railway  Station 
on  the  chequered  light  and  shade  on  Cissbury,  she  exclaimed, 
"  How  beautiful  are  those  Downs  !  " 


416  LETTERS   OP  1824. 

accounts  as  get  into  the  newspapers.  And  his  brother 
in  Brazil  is  of  the  same  stamp.  Did  I  tell  you  that  one 
of  this  Emperor's  amusements  is  to  ride  negroes  with 
spurs?  With  regard  both  to  the  Braganzas  and  the 
Spanish  Bourbons,  I  fear  Jupiter  has  determined  to  de- 
stroy them ;  for  he  has  certainly  taken  away  their  senses ! 

A  little  encouragement  would  make  me  think  se- 
riously of  a  Book  of  the  State,  —  tracing  the  course  of 
political  events  with  the  view  of  showing  their  effect 
upon  the  condition  and  progress  of  society. 

How  is  Louisa  ?  how  are  the  children  ?  My  love  to 
them.  I  wish  you  were  all  here  to  enjoy  this  delicious 
weather.     God  bless  you. 

K/.  S. 


To  the  Right  Hon,  C.  W.  W.    Wynn,  M.  P. 

Keswick,  May  8.  1824. 

My  dear  Wynn, 

I  think  you  and  Reginald  Heber  saw  such  of 
my  Inscriptions  as  were  then  written  when  I  was  at 
Llangedwin.  I  send  you  one  now  which  was  finished  a 
few  days  ago,  if  finished  that  may  be  called  which  will 
probably  receive  many  corrections  before  it  goes  abroad. 
The  subject  was  Sir  Harry  Burrard's  eldest  son,  one  of 
Sir  J.  Moore's  aides-de-camp,  whose  horse  was  killed 
under  him  by  the  General's  side  when  he  fell ;  and 
who,  a  few  minutes  afterwards,  received  his  mortal 
wound  upon  the  same  spot.  What  I  ha%'e  said  of  his 
character  is,  from  accounts  written  of  him  before  his 
death,  by  one  of  the  chaplains  (Owen,  I  think,  his  name) 
to  his  mother. 

There  will  be  from  thirty  to  forty  of  these  Inscrip- 
tions, and  they  will  most  likely  make  their  appearance 
when   the  "  History  of  the  War  "  is  completed,  in  a 


1824.  ROBERT   SOUTUEY.  417 

quarto  form  to  accompany  it,  for  those  who  may  like  to 
purchase  verse  as  well  as  prose. 

I  think  you  will  like  the  temper  in  which  I  have 
spoken  of  America  in  the  last  "  Q.  R."  GifFord  could 
not  let  it  pass  without  making  one  offensive  alteration. 
I  had  spoken  of  the  state  of  literature  and  science  as 
existing  in  New  England,  and  he  altered  the  sentence 
so  as  to  imply  a  suspicion  that  there  was  none  there. 
However,  it  must  have  gone  very  much  against  the  grain 
with  him  to  insert  the  paper.  The  truth  is,  that  he  thinks 
me  too  liberal,  and  Murray  thinks  me  too  bigoted. 
The  middle  way,  whatever  it  might  have  been  for  Phae- 
ton, is  not  only  the  most  difficult  to  keep  on  earth,  but 
the  most  dangerous,  for  you  have  enemies  on  both 
sides. 

I  am  reviewing  "  Hayley's  Life,"  to  pay  my  midsum- 
mer bills.  I  have  written  some  forty  stanzas  in  the 
"  Tale  of  Paraguay,"  and  have  brought  myself  more  into 
the  run  of  verse  than  1  have  been  for  many  years. 

My  inclination  would  lead  me  strongly  to  think 
about  a  view  of  our  civil  history  down  to  the  accession 
of  the  House  of  Hanover,  upon  such  a  scale  as  the 
*'  Book  of  the  Church,"  and  to  follow  it  with  the  "  Age 
of  George  III.,"  connecting  them  by  an  introductory 
sketch  of  the  two  intermediate  reigns.  Had  I  been 
made  historiographer,  with  a  becoming  salary,  I  should 
have  earned  my  pay.      God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Edith  May  Southey. 

Keswick,  May  17.  1824. 

My  dear  E.  May, 

I  have  found  one  !  I  have  found  one  !  I  did 
not  think  there  had  been  such  a  thing  in  the  world,  but 
I  have  actually  found  one.    Incredible  as  it  may  appear, 

VOL.  III.  E   E 


418  LETTERS   OF  1824. 

what  I  am  saying  is  literally  and  strictly  true.  You 
should  have  been  here  to  have  seen  and  enjoyed  the 
discovery.  J.  wish  you  had  !  and  so  we  all  wished  — 
Kate,  and  Isabel,  and  your  cousin  Sara.  And  we  wished 
for  Bertha  too,  for  Bertha  would  have  enjoyed  it.  She 
has  often  heard  of  it,  but  how  it  would  have  surprised 
her  to  have  seen  it ! 

You  are  by  this  time  dying  with  impatience  to  know 
all  about  it:  lohat  it  was?  where  \t  wixs'i  when  it  \\2Lst 
how  it  was?  —  and  you  shall  hear  all.  But  we  must 
proceed  methodically,  lest  your  pleasure  should  be  spoilt 
by  an  abrupt  and  hurried  disclosure.  To  do  this  pro- 
perly, that  is  to  say,  with  judgment,  requires  some  con- 
sideration ;  and  whether  to  begin  with  the  What,  or  the 
Where,  or  the  When,  or  the  Hoiv,  is  a  matter  of  critical 
difficulty,  upon  which  more  depends  than  any  person 
can  well  understand,  who  has  never  composed  a  book. 

It  has  been  a  received  maxim,  since  the  days  of 
Horace,  that  an  Epic  poem  should  begin  in  the  middle ; 
though  I  deny  the  maxim,  and  have  not  observed  it, 
believing  that  the  propriety  of  that  rule,  like  most 
others,  depends  very  much  upon  circumstances.  How 
to  begin,  indeed,  is  the  great  difficulty  in  many  cases. 
In  the  present,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  postponing 
the  Quid-&\\\\y,  and  letting  the  Qvmnodo-shi^  follow  the 
C76i-ship  (as  it  naturally  would),  the  matter  may  best  be 
introduced  by  letting  that  good  ship  the  Quando  lead 
the  way. 

When  was  it,  then  ?      Quando  ? 

This  day,  I  answer,  being  Monday,  May  the  17th, 
1824,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  Now  for  the 
whereness.  Ubi  ?  Where  was  it  ?  A  simple  answer 
will  not  suffice  here,  for  this  Ubi  hath  a  double  relation. 
And  when,  in  reply  to  its  first  and  more  general  mean- 
ing, I  tell  you  it  was  in  the  study,  the  question  still 
remains  to  be  answered  in  its  second  and  special  bearing. 


1824.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  419 

1  then  say  it  was  in  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Monu- 
menta  Boica." 

My  dear  daughter,  you  know  that  book,  and  yet  you 
do  not  know  it.  I  must,  therefore,  put  you  in  the  way 
of  recollecting  it ;  for  it  is  necessary  to  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  any  story  that  you  should  understand  it  per- 
fectly as  you  go  on ;  and  I  dare  say  you  have  felt  this 
at  the  opera.  You  have  had  the  **  Monumenta  Boica  " 
in  3'our  hand,  and  made  use  of  some  of  the  volume  ;  but 
I  doubt  whether  you  ever  looked  at  the  title-page,  to  see 
what  the  work  was.  You  may  call  it  to  mind,  perhaps, 
when  I  tell  you  where  it  stands  in  the  library  :  in  the 
book-case  which  is  between  the  windows,  on  the  top 
shelf,  fourteen  volumes  of  the  foreign  small  quarto  size, 
—  seven  standing  on  one  side  of  the  middle  division, 
and  seven  on  the  other.  You  collected  a  few  minor 
monsters  from  it  for  the  tea-caddy.  It  would  be  an 
instructive  story,  were  I  to  tell  you  how  I  saw  this  book 
at  Verbeyst's,  on  my  first  visit  to  Brussels,  and  did  not 
buy  it,  and  repented  that  1  had  not  bouglit  it  for  two 
years,  till  I  went  to  Brussels  again,  and  did  what  can 
very  seldom  indeed  be  done, — repaid  a  fault  of  omission 
by  buying  it.  And  I  might  also  explain  to  you  what 
the  book  is,  and  wherein  its  value  consists,  and  why  I 
find  it  singularly  useful,  and  how  many  curious  things 
I  have  found  in  it,  and  am  finding.  But  interesting  as 
this  would  be  in  itself,  it  would  be  improper  to  intro- 
duce it  here,  because  you  are  becoming  impatient  to 
know  what  it  was  that  I  found  in  this  book  this  morn- 
ing; and  I  know  how  impertinent  anything  appears  in 
a  story  which  is  not  essential  to  its  progress  or  deve- 
lopment, when  curiosity  is  all  agog  and  a  magog,  as 
yours  is  at  this  time.  So  we  will  proceed  to  the  How  it 
was,  without  any  delay,  let,  liinderancc,  impediment, 
ambagiosity,  circumlocution,  or  needless,  superfluous 
and    unnecessary    roundabout    forms    of  speech;     but 

&   \i  'A 


420  LETTERS   OF  1824. 

plainly    and    briefly    replying    to    the    question,    Quo- 
mo  do  ? 

As  thus :  I  was  showing  Cuthbert  the  pictures  in  the 
first  volume,  upon  which  I  had  been  employed  before 
breakfast,  and  there  I  found  it. 

And  now,  in  due  order,  comes  the  quiddity,  the  cream, 
the  kernel,  the  essence  or  quintessence.  What  was  it? 
Q^uid  ?   Quid  Diaholus  ? 

I  defy  Diabolus  himself  to  guess. 

Something  it  was  of  which  you  have  heard  your  aunt 
Coleridge  speak ;  but  which,  till  this  day,  I  verily 
thought  had  not  existed  either  in  Heaven  above,  nor  in 
the  earth  beneath,  nor  in  the  waters  which  are  under 
the  earth. 

It  was  not  Moko. 

It  was  not  Jilkikker. 

It  was  not  Goarum. 

It  was  not  a  detested  Hinder. 

But  it  was, —  my  dear  Edith,  guess  what  it  was?  I 
have  not  defied  you  to  guess,  though  I  have  defied 
Diabolus. 

"  Here  it  is  !  "  I  exclaimed,  and,  rising  from  my  chair 
with  delight,  carried  it  to  your  mother,  who  was  at  the 
other  end  of  the  room.  "  Here  it  is,"  I  cried,  "look  at 
it !  "  She  did  look  at  it ;  she  smiled,  and  she  said,  "  There 
it  is,  indeed!  It  really  is  one!  Who  would  have 
thought  of  seeing  it !  " 

«'  Where  is  Mrs.  Coleridge,"  I  exclaimed,  "  where  is 
Mrs,  Coleridge?"  And  Cuthbert,  seeing  how  I  was 
pleased,  clapped  his  little  hands  for  joy. 

I  opened  the  door,  went  into  the  passage,  and  said, 
"  Mrs.  Coleridge  ?  Where  is  Mrs.  Coleridge?  " 

She  was  in  her  own  room,  and  answered  hastily, 
«*  Here  I  am  !     What  do  you  want  ?  " 

I  had  spoken  in  a  loud  voice,  that  it  might  be  heard 
down  stairs,  or  in  the  saints'*  room,  if  in  either  place 

*  One  of  the  down-stairs  parlours  at  Greta  Hall  was  called 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  421 

she  had  happened  to  be  ;  but  certainly  not  in  a  tone  of 
alarm.  Alarmed,  nevertheless,  she  was  ;  and  I,  innocent 
as  I  waSj^yea,  in  this  case  more  than  innocent, —  de- 
serving far  other  treatment,  my  whole  and  sole  intent 
having  been  to  give  pleasure,  —  I,  poor  I,  innocent, 
meritorious,  well-meaning  I,  received  a  severe  repri- 
mand for  frightening  her,  and  disturbing  her  nerves. 

But  I  bore  it  meekly  as  Job,  and  more  cheerfully. 
That  I  was  more  cheerful  than  the  man  of  Uz  was 
natural ;  for  he  was  in  a  sorrowful  condition.  But  that 
I  should  have  been  equally  meek  should  be  accounted 
to  my  honour.  And  when  you  teach  your  children 
(should  you  have  any)  that  string  of  scriptural  ques- 
tions in  which  it  is  asked  who  was  the  most  patient 
man  ?  I  think  you  ought  to  put  that  question  in  the 
plural,  or  rather  in  the  dual  form,  and  teach  the  little 
ones  to  reply.  Job  and  their  grandfather  Southey. 

Let  me,  if  I  can,  describe  the  various  expressions 
which  passed  on  this  memorable  occasion  over  your 
aunt's  countenance  in  rapid  succession  ;  so  rapid,  indeed, 
that  one  came  on  before  the  other  had  departed,  and  so 
they  mingled  with  and  modified  each  other  in  a  man- 
ner, unutterable  by  words  (I  fear)  and  unconceivable  to 
any  but  those  who  are  well  acquainted  with  the  person- 
age in  question. 

First,  then,  it  was  an  expression  of  dolorous  alarm, 
such  as  Le  Brun  ought  to  have  painted  :  but  such  as 
Manning  never  could  have  equalled,  when,  while  Mrs. 
Lloyd  was  keeping  her  room  in  child-bed,  he  and 
Charles  Lamb  sate  drinking  punch  in  the  room  below 
till  three  in  the  morning,  —  iManning  acting  Le  Brun's 
passions  (punchified  at  the  time),  and  Charles  Lamb 
(punchified  also)  roaring  aloud  and  swearing,  while  the 
tears  ran  down  his  cheeks,  that  it  required  more  genius 

"  Paul,"— Peter  (above)  havuig  been  robbed  to  fill  the  book- 
shelves. 

E   E   3 


422  LETTERS    OF  1824. 

than  even  Shakspeare  possessed  to  personate  them  so 
well ;  Charles  Llojd  the  while  (not  punchified)  praying 
and  entreating  them  to  go  to  bed,  and  not  disturb  his 
wife  by  the  uproar  they  were  making. 

But  when  she  perceived  by  my  countenance  and  man- 
ner that  no  misfortune  had  befallen,  and  that  her  alarm 
was  altogether  groundless  and  unwarrantable,  alarm  was 
succeeded  by  a  yet  more  unwarrantable  and  groundless 
anger,  and  then  the  expression  became  that  of  indig- 
nation. Then  it  was  that  the  eyes  lightened  and  the 
tongue  thundered,  and  the  cataracts  of  wrath  were 
opened  upon  my  devoted  head,  and  I  —  if  I  had  not 
been 

"  Integer  vitae  scelei'isque  purus — " 

how  could  I  have  endured  the  storm  ?  Strong  in  my 
innocence,  I  endured  it.  Under  the  protection  of  con- 
scious virtue,  as  of  an  umbrella,  I  bore  the  pelting  of 
that  pitiless  storm.  And  when  the  first  gleam  of  better 
weather  appeared  in  a  corner  of  the  countenance,  I  held 
forth  the  book,  and  said,  *'  I  have  found  one  !  Here  it  is  ! 
Look  at  it!" 

The  cloud  was  still  hanging  on  her  brow  ;  there  was 
yet  a  lowering  and  lurid  asjoect  there,  from  which  an- 
other peal  of  thunder  might  have  proceeded.  But  im- 
patience was  now  passing  into  curiosity  (an  emotion 
nearly  allied  to  it),  and  the  corners  of  the  mouth,  vvhicli 
had  been  curved  downward,  gradually  drew  up  into  their 
proper  line.  "  What  is  it  ?  What  is  it  ?  "  she  said.  "  Let 
me  see  !  "  Perhaps  that  let  ought  here  to  be  spelt  with 
a  double  t,  thus — lett,  that  the  emphasis  with  which 
it  was  uttered  might  be  made  visible.  Lett  me  see  ! 
There  was  an  angry  as  well  as  a  curious  impatience  in 
the  quick  and  hurried  pronunciation.      But, — 

"  Last  came  joy's  ecstatic  trial." 


1324.  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  423 

AVhcn  I  told  her  what  it  was,  the  face  brightened  into 
an  expression  of  scornful  incredulity,  and  the  corners  of 
the  mouth  curved  up  into  an  incipient  smile,  which 
ripened  into  a  short,  loud,  and  honest  ha-ha  laugh,  as  I 
displayed  the  book,  and  slie  saw  that  it  really  was  what 
I  said  was  there,  what  she  had  so  often  spoken  of,  and 
what  she  had  never  expected  to  see,  nor  even  dreamt  of 
seeing.  Blessed  be  the  herald  that  emblazoned  it ! 
Blessed  be  the  Counts  of  Rot  in  Bavaria  who  bore  it 
so  many  centuries  ago  !  Little  did  that  herald,  little 
did  those  counts  think  what  delight  it  would  one  day 
occasion  at  Greta  Hall,  in  the  town  of  Keswick,  parish 
of  Crossthwaite,  ward  of  Allerdale,  below  Derwent, 
county  of  Cumberland,  kingdom  of  England,  and  island 
of  Great  Britain.  Little  did  the  humble  engraver  who 
engraved  the  plate,  and  in  his  humility  did  not  mark  it 
with  his  modest  name,  —  (a  name  which  otherwise 
should  be  recorded  here)  —  little,  I  say,  did  he,  —  little 
did  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Munich,  who  published 
the  book,  little  did  they  think  that  on  Monday,  the  17th 
day  of  May,  1824,  we  should  here,  in  this  distant  part 
of  the  world,  discover  in  it  what  till  then  we  had  always 
deemed  indiscoverable,  —  a  thing  existing  only  in  Mrs. 
Coleridge's  creative  imagination ;  and  that  a  young  lady 
at  No.  16.  York  Place,  Baker  Street,  Portman  Square, 
London,  would  be  kept  on  the  rack  of  impatience  while 
slie  read  through  two  whole  sheets  of  letter-paper,  in  no 
easy  hand-writing,  dying  the  while  with  curiosity  to 
know  what  it  was. 

It  was  then, —  it  was,  yes  it  was 

a  L . 

But  it  is  a  discovery  which  ought  to  enter  at  the  eyes 
as  well  as  the  ears,  and  therefore  you  shall  see  as  well  as 
read  what  it  was,  in  the  enclosed  paper,  the  seal  of  which 
must  not  be  broken,   on  pain  of  excommunication  (as 

E    E    4 


424 


LETTERS   OF 


1824. 


thereon  indited),   till   the  letter  has  been  fairly  read  to 
this  point. 

There  you  will  find  a  L . 


And  so  farewell, 

From  your  dutiful  father, 


R.  S. 


To  Grosvenor  C.  Bedford,  Esq. 

Keswick,  May  24.  1824. 

My  dear  Grosvenor, 

What  should  I  do  without  the  exchequer,  or 
rather,  without  the  auditor  thereof,  who,  of  all  per- 
sonages, whether  in  rus  or  in  urhe,  is  the  one  to  whom  I 
most  naturally  write  nonsense,  talk  nonsense,  and  look 
for  friendly  offices  ?  I  pray  you,  send  Edith  some 
money.  She  has  consignments  to  send  home,  and  some 
outlay  to  make  for  Bertha,  besides  her  own  expenses, 
which  (excellent  manager  and  economist  as  she  is)  are 
of  necessity  much  greater  than  they  would  be  here. 
At  present  she  seems  to  be  heartily  enjoying  London, 
which  is  made  as  agreeable  to  her  as  midnight  parties 
and  dancing  can  make  it.  A  little  of  this  is  very  well ; 
but  I  shall  not  be  sorry  when  she  takes  leave  of  it,  and 
sets  off  for  the  Devonshire   coast,  to  enjoy  better  air, 


1824. 


ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  425 


keep  better  hours,  and  employ  herself  in  quieter  and 
wholesomer  pleasures.  I  wish  she  were  coming  home, 
instead  of  travelling  westward,  for  she  is  very  much 
missed  here  at  all  times,  and  will  be  still  more  so  when 
the  marooning  season  begins  —  as  it  would  do  now, 
were  she  with  us.  But  it  is  better  that  she  should  take 
this  opportunity  of  going  wherever  inclination  and  oc- 
casion lead  her,  when  she  is  already  so  far  on  the  way. 
I  wrote  her  a  letter,  the  other  day,  concerning  a  fa- 
vourite simile  of  Mrs.  Coleridge's,  which  would  amuse 
you  who  know  the  parties.  It  led  me  heartily  to  wish 
that  you  and  I  could  spend  a  few  weeks  in  absolute 
idleness  together,  that  we  might  write  the  "  Butler's 
Travels."  What  a  noble  chapter  might  be  made  con- 
cerning the  country  in  which  all  the  creations  of 
heraldry  are  found  !  Alas !  I  am  at  this  time  brim  full  of 
good,  genuine,  glorious  nonsense,  worth  all  the  stupid 
sense  in  the  world,  and  worthy  of  living  for  ever ;  and 
behold,  the  dull  employment  with  which  I  must  drudg- 
ingly and  doggedly  go  on  is,  a  reviewal  of  the  "  Life  of 
Hayley ;  "  in  which,  however,  I  have  the  satisfaction  of 
treating  a  gentleman,  a  scholar,  and  a  generous-hearted 
man  as  he  ought  to  be  treated.     God  bless  you. 

H.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Neville  White. 

Keswick,  May  27.  1824. 
My  dear  Neville, 

I  had  heard  from  Edith  of  my  little  godson's 
perilous  state,  and  did  not  hke  to  write  to  you  under 
the  uncertainty  concerning  him.  Precarious  as  human 
life  always  is,  it  is  peculiarly  so  in  infancy  ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  recovery  from  the  very  brink  of  the  grave 
is  much  more  frequent  than  it  is  in  any  other  stage  of 
existence.  To  hope  the  best,  and  to  be  ready  for  the 
worst,  is  our  duty  in  this,  as,  indeed,  in  all  other  cases; 


426  LETTERS   OF 


1824. 


and  it  is  a  duty  which  you,  I  am  sure,  practise  as  well 
as  preach.  I  will  hope  for  good  tidings,  and  shall  be 
anxious  to  receive  them. 

Now  to  the  business  part  of  your  letter.  But  first, 
let  me  thank  you  for  your  good-will  and  exertions  in 
my  brother's  behalf,  and  say  that  any  names  which  you 
may  j^rocure  may  be  sent  to  me. 

I  should  very  well  like  to  edit  Sir  T.  Browne's 
works,  write  a  biographical  introduction,  and  add  such 
Omniana  notes  as  my  stores  may  enable  me  to  furnish. 
That  the  speculation  will  answer  to  the  publishers  I  am 
not  so  sure  as  Hudson  Gurney  seems  to  be ;  and  this 
you  should  say  to  Mr.  Wilkin.  But  the  London  book- 
sellers must  be  the  best  judges  upon  a  question  of  re- 
publication. I  should  be  very  far  from  allowing  tliis 
concerning  a  new  work.  As  to  terms,  I  had  two  hun- 
dred guineas  for  editing  the  *'  Morte  Arthur,"  which 
was  what  Longman  offered,  being  the  sum  they  were 
to  have  given  a  certain  person  who  was  originally  an- 
nounced as  editor,  but  left  the  book  and  the  booksellers 
in  the  lurch,  for  the  sake  of  decamping  with  another 
man's  wife.  So  it  is  plain  that  in  that  sum  nothing 
was  allowed  for  a  good  name,  if  mine  was  not  estimated 
at  a  better  price  than  his.  With  that  sum,  however,  I 
should  be  content,  because  I  do  not  think  the  specula- 
tion could  afford  more  ;  though,  if  the  risk  rested  with 
London  publishers,  I  woidd  take  all  I  could  get,  being 
richly  entitled  so  to  do  from  them.  When  I  add,  that 
I  possess  the  folio  edition  of  1686  of  Sir  T.'s  works,  and 
no  other,  and  nothing  else  of  his  writings,  I  shall  have 
said  all  which,  in  this  step  of  the  business,  it  can  be 
necessary  to  say. 

There  is  reasonable  ground  for  hoping  that  a  good 
deal  may  be  recovered.  Tenison  speaks  of  other  brief 
discourses,  and  of  memorials  which  had  been  collected 
for  writing  his  life. 

One  thing,  however,  must  be  taken  into   account  in 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  427 

the  terms.  I  had  nothing  to  do  vvitli  correcting  the 
proofs  of  the  "  Morte  Arthur;  "  and  this  is  a  matter  of 
more  importance  with  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  owing  to 
the  peculiarity  of  his  Language,  than  with  any  other 
prose  wiiter.  Supposing  that  Wilkin  means  to  print 
the  Avork  himself,  he  must  get  some  person  who  is  a 
scholar  (and  an  ordinary  one  will  not  do)  to  revise  the 
sheets.  The  time  which  that  task  would  require  I  can- 
not afTord.  Should  this  lead  to  any  transmission  of 
materials,  the  Quaker  volume  may  come  and  be  re- 
turned with  them ;  otherwise  it  may  wait  till  I  see 
Norwich  once  more.  Express,  I  pray  you,  my  thanks 
to  its  owner  for  this  civility. 

It  was  a  gi'eat  disappointment  to  us  not  to  see  you. 
I  had  fully  expected  you,  and  wish  very,  very  much 
you  could  still  come,  persuaded  as  I  am  that  it  would 
be  greatly  to  your  good. 

My  paper  in  the  last  '^  Q.  R."  was  upon  Dr.  Dvvight's 
*'  Travels."  There  was  nothing  of  mine  in  the  preceding- 
number.  I  am  now  reviewing  "  Hayley's  Memoirs : " 
a  poor,  insipid  book ;  but  it  has  made  me  like  the  man, 
and  he  deserves  to  be  treated  with  respect  and  kindness. 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  Neville, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  the  Rev.  Neville  Wliite. 

■  Keswick,  June  24.  1824. 

My  dear  Neville, 

You  see  I  judged  rightly  concerning  the  en- 
couragement which  Mr.  Wilkin  was  likely  to  find  from 
the  London  booksellers.  This  is  a  subject  on  which 
they  are  necessarily  the  best  judges.  A  second  edition 
is  not  to  be  hoped  for  in  a  case  like  this,  nor  do  I  think 
there  is  any  reasonable  expectation  that  so  large  an 
edition  as    1000  will  sell.      I  advise  him  not  to  print 


428  LETTERS    Oi!' 


1824. 


more  than  750,  and  tell  Inm,  further,  tliat  highly  de- 
sirable as  such  a  collection  is  of  this  author's  works,  it 
would  be  prudent  not  to  venture  more  than  500. 

The  best  service  I  can  render  him  will  be  to  review 
the  book,  which  of  course  is  incompatible  with  editing 
it.  Edit  it  I  ought  not  to  do,  unless  I  could  allow  to 
the  time  and  care  necessary  for  doing  it  in  a  manner 
creditable  to  myself.  This  I  cannot  give,  and  the 
speculation  cannot  afford  to  purchase.  Mr.  Wilkin  had 
better  take  "  Johnson's  Life,"  to  which  Kippis's  account 
(if  it  contains  much  additional  information)  may  be  an- 
nexed. Let  him  then  arrange  the  works  chronolo- 
gically, with  a  brief  notice  affixed  to  each,  when  it  was 
first  published,  through  how  many  editions  it  has  passed, 
and  what  edition  has  been  follovv^ed  in  the  reprint.  And 
if  he  is  desirous  of  reducing  the  bulk  of  the  work,  throw 
away  all  the  annotations  of  other  writers,  except  Sir 
Kenelm  Digby's  remarks.  All  that  remains  will  be  to 
take  especial  care  that  it  be  correctly  printed,  and  state, 
in  a  brief  and  modest  preface,  the  motive  for  forming  the 
collection,  the  pains  which  have  been  taken  in  obtaining 
unpublished  papers,  and  the  success  with  which  that 
search  has  been  attended.  The  correspondence  should 
follow  the  life,  if  it  be  at  all  of  a  domestic  and  familiar 
character ;  but  if  it  relates  wholly  (as  is  more  likely)  to 
discursive  subjects,  such  as  were  the  object  of  his  studies, 
it  had  better  then  be  placed  at  the  end  of  the  collection. 

A  review  in  the  "  Quarterly  "  will  be  of  much  greater 
advantage  to  Mr.  Wilkin  than  my  name  as  editor  could 
be.  What  I  should  have  written  as  a  life,  preface, 
or  introduction,  may  just  as  well  be  cast  into  that  form. 
I  lose  no  time  in  replying  to  your  letter,  that  he  may 
lose  none  in  making  his  arrangements  and  beginning  the 
print.      God  bless  you  my  dear  friend. 

Yours  affectionately, 

R.  S. 


1824. 


ROBERT    SOUTUEY.  429 


To  John  May,  Esq. 

Keswick,  June  27.  1824. 

My  dear  Friend, 

I  had  nearly  forgotten  to  answer  your  question 
concerning  the  hooks  which  elucidate  our  Ecclesiastical 
History.     The   two   works   which    profess  to   embrace 
that  subject  exclusively  are   Fuller's   and   Jeremy  Col- 
lier's.     The    first    will,    I    hope,   be    reprinted    at    the 
Clarendon  press  *  ;  for,  with  all  its  manifold  imperfec- 
tions, it  contains  much  matter  for  which  no  other  autho- 
rity can  now  be  found, — the  records  of  the  Convocation 
having  been  destroyed  ;  and  it  has,  moreover,  all  the 
inimitable  charm  of  Fuller's  manner.     Collier  is  coarse 
and  clumsy,  a  bigot  on  the  right  side.    It  was  necessary 
that  I  should  have  both  at  hand,  but  you  would  find 
upon    investigation    that  I  have   drawn    my   materials 
from  other  sources.     Collier's  lay  open  before  me,  and 
Fuller's,  1  believe,  only  in  the  reign  of  James. 

For  facts  relating  to  the  History  of  the  Church  the 
most  curious  books  are  Kennet's  "  Parochial  Antiqui- 
ties," and  his  "  Case  of  Impropriations,"  H.  Wharton's 
*'  Defence  of  Pluralities,"  and  Stavely's  "  History  of 
Churches.  "  Bede  "  and  the  "  Acta  Sanctorum  "  were 
my  resources  for  the  early  history,  with  "  William  of 
Malmsbury." 

To  my  sorrow  I  had  no  original  authorities  for  th 
life  of  Becket,  except  such  as  are  in  the  Appendix  to 
Lord  Littleton's  *'  History."  Berrington  is  the  best  his- 
torian of  those  times  ;  indeed,  much  the  fairest  of  all 
the  English  Romanists  in  his  writings. 

We  come  now  to  Lewis's  "  Lives  of  Wickliffe  and  of 

*  It  was  reprinted  at  the  Clarendon  in  1845,  in  six  vols.  8vo.,  and 
the  Rev.  J.  S.  Brewer  states,  in  his  preface,  that  "  a  careful  exa- 
mination of  Fuller's  authorities  with  the  statements  made  in  his 
narrative  has  ended  in  a  result  favourable  to  his  industry,  judg- 
ment, and  accuracy." — p.  iv. 


430  LETTERS    OF  1824. 

Bishop  Pecock."  I  had  also  Baber's  "  Life  of  WickliflTe," 
prefixed  to  his  "New  Testament,"  and  Fox's  "  Martyrs." 

Then  came  the  whole  series  of  Strype's  laborious 
compilations,  in  which,  I  believe,  nothing  has  escaped 
me  ;  though  in  this  work  I  have  not  made  use  of  the 
fiftieth  part  of  my  references  to  them, — Fox,  Burnett, 
and  Dr.  Wordsworth's  "  Ecclesiastical  Biography  ;  " 
Rushworth  and  Nalson  (the  former,  I  must  observe,  is 
not  known  as  he  deserves  to  be  for  a  great  rogue  ;  but 
he  has  perfectly  convinced  me  that  a  writer  may  deserve 
to  be  punished  as  severely  for  his  sins  of  omission  as 
for  direct  falsehood);  all  the  Lives  of  "  Laud,"  Racket's 
"  Life  of  Archbishop  WilHams," — a  much  more  import- 
ant book  (in  spite  of  its  odd  but  very  amusing  style) 
than  it  is  generally  known  to  be.  A  great  deal  has 
been  drawn  from  tracts  published  during  the  Civil 
Wars,  of  which  I  found  a  rich  collection  at  Lowther; 
in  short,  from  all  Histories,  Memoirs,  &c.  of  all  parties 
on  which  I  could  lay  hands.  And  I  need  not  tell  you 
that  any  previous  knowledge  of  monastic  history  was  of 
great  use. 

Everybody  has  cried  out  for  references.  I  will  give 
them,  as  I  find  leisure  for  doing  it,  in  some  future 
edition  ;  and  I  will  do  so  for  this  reason,  that  when  the 
references  are  given,  the  reader  who  is  diligent  enough 
to  refer  to  them  may  see  how  faithfully  I  have  repre- 
sented the  facts,  and  how  completely  the  composition  is 
my  own.     God  bless  you.  Robert  Southey. 


To  Mrs.  Hughes. 

Keswick,  July  4.  1824. 

My  dear  Madam, 

Your  letter  brought  me  the  first  and  only  intel- 
ligence that  I  have  received  of  Elmsley's  death.  His 
place  will  not  easily  be  filled  at  Oxford,  and  that  walk 
of  letters  which  he  had  chosen ;  but  to  his  fi'iends  it 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTIIEY.  431 

never  can  be  supplied.  For  myself  it  is  a  loss  which 
will  be  perceived,  whether  I  look  backward  or  forward. 
Many  recollections  which  used  to  be  cheerful  ones,  must 
now  change  their  character  ;  and  I  feel  myself  left  with 
one  friend  less  in  the  world,  at  an  age  when  we  rarely 
form  new  friendships,  even  if  a  new  friend  could  ever 
supply  the  place  of  an  old  one. 

I  have  been  very  much  confined  to  the  house  since 
your  departure,  by  that  annual  visitation  of  catarrh, 
which  was  then  upon  me.  It  has  now  taken  the  form 
of  cough,  which  is  usually  its  last  stage ;  but  this  year 
the  cough  seems  to  be  deeper,  and  take  stronger  hold 
than  it  was  wont.  Next  year,  if  it  be  possible  for  me 
to  break  away  from  my  employment,  I  will  leave  home 
at  the  end  of  April,  and  try,  as  the  only  probable  means 
of  escaping  it,  to  make  a  journey  of  six  or  eight  weeks 
into  Holland  and  the  North  of  Germany,  if  I  can  find  a 
companion. 

You  were  fortunate,  while  you  were  here,  in  the 
weather ;  but  had  you  been  a  month  later  you  would 
have  seen  our  wonder  of  wonders,  which,  though  there 
is  nothing  beautiful  in  it,  is  still  very  well  worth  seeing, 
for  I  believe  nothing  of  the  kind  has  ever  been  observed 
elsewhere.*  What  is  called  the  Floating  Island  here, 
made  its  appearance.  By  good  fortune  Sedgewick,  the 
Cambridge  Professor  of  Geology,  is  here.  I  went  with 
him  to  reconnoitre  it  on  Monday  last,  and  yesterday  he 
investigated  it  thoroughly. 

The  bottom  of  the  lake  in  that  part  (near  Lodore)  is 
covered  with  aquatic  plants,  growing  in  a  soft  vegetable 
mould,  which  is  hardly  a  foot  thick,  and  lies  upon  a 
bed  of  peat;  that  bed  is  six  feet  in  thickness,  and  rests 
upon  a  stratum  of  fine  white  clay.  From  time  to  time 
a  quantity  of  gas  is  generated  (whether  in  the  peat,  or 
below  it,  remains  to  be  discovered)  which  fills  this  peat, 

*  Perhaps  Pliny  the  Younger  alludes  to  a  like  island,  lib.  viii. 
epist.  XX. 


432  LETTERS   OF  1824. 

till  it  becomes  so  buoyant  that  it  is  separated  from  the 
clay,  and  then  that  part  of  the  bottom  of  the  lake  floats 
and  rises  to  the  surface.  But  so  great  was  the  accumu- 
lation when  this  took  place  that  it  has  made  a  rent  in 
the  bottom  some  fifty  yards  long,  and  some  six  feet 
deep.  Upon  probing,  the  gas  came  out  freely,  but  not 
so  plentifully  on  the  sides  of  this  chasm  as  in  anotlier 
portion  at  some  little  distance  ;  where,  instead  of  forcing 
for  itself  a  vent,  the  gas  has  puffed  up  the  bottom  in  a 
convex  form.  Then,  when  a  pole  is  thrust  down,  the 
air  rushes  out  like  a  jet. 

We  had  rain  enough  in  the  course  of  the  week  to 
raise  the  lake  full  four  feet.  The  convex  part  is  there- 
fore now  under  water ;  and  probably  the  two  other 
pieces,  or  the  sides  of  the  chasm,  will  soon  subside.* 

My  young  ones,  thank  God,  are  well,  and  Isabel's 
face,  which  had  been  frightfully  swoln,  from  an  inflam- 
mation of  the  ear,  is  recovering  its  usual  dimensions. 
Sara  Coleridge  is  still  complaining  of  her  eyes,  and  talk- 
ing of  going  to  the  South  to  have  them  cured  ;  but  in 
this  family  everything  is  talked  of  a  long  while  before 
it  is  done.  My  eldest  daughter  has  deferred  all  account 
of  her  visit  to  St.  Paul's  till  she  returns,  as,  having  so 
much  to  say,  she  dared  not  begin  to  write  it.  She 
is  now  on  her  way  to  Devonshire.  Last  week  she 
met  Mrs.  Wynn  at  the  Caledonian  Ball,  and  thought 
her  looking  very  ill.  She  gives  a  good  account  of 
Bertha,  who  spent  the  last  week  with  her,  and  Bertha 
gives  good  account  of  herself. 

And  now,  my  dear  Madam,  present  our  united  re- 
gards to  Dr.  Hughes,  not  forgetting  mine  to  your  son, 
and  believe  me,  Yours  very  truly, 

Robert  Southey. 


* 


An  account  of  this  Floating  Island  was  drawn  up  for  a  second 
series  of  the  "  Colloquies."  The  only  printed  copy  is  in  my  pos- 
session —  as  far  as  I  know.  It  was  deposited  with  ine,  to  produce 
in  case  of  need. 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  433 

To  Mrs.  Hughes. 

Keswick,  Aug.  12.  1824. 

My  dear  Madam, 

I  am  indebted  to  your  report  of  Elmsley's  death 
for  the  pleasure  which  I  felt,  after  speaking  and  think- 
ing, and  dreaming  of  him  as  dead,  in  hearing  that  he 
was  likely  to  recover ;  a  pleasure  worth  all  the  previous 
pain,  and  of  that  kind  indeed  that  I  know  nothing 
which  can  be  compared  to  it.  When  I  was  within  reach 
of  Elmsley  we  saw  a  great  deal  of  each  other,  and  he 
is  one  of  those  friends  from  whose  society  I  have  derived 
not  merely  temporary  enjoyment,  but  permanent  benefit. 
The  chances  of  life  have  separated  us  for  many  years, 
without  in  any  degree  weakening  our  mutual  regard ; 
and  upon  hearing  of  his  death  I  felt  that  I  had  lost  what 
in  declining  years  we  can  ill  afford  to  part  with,  an 
object  of  esteem  and  affection,  —  one  of  the  friends  of 
my  youth.  Certainly  I  never  received  so  much  delight 
from  any  letter,  as  from  that  which  told  me  he  was 
alive  and  recovering.  He  is  well  enough  to  have  left 
Oxford  for  the  house  of  his  sister-in-law,  near  Croydon, 
where  Wynn  and  Bedford  visited  him  about  a  fortnight 
ago,  and  found  him  so  confident  of  his  own  strength  as 
to  talk  of  seeing  Keswick  this  year  as  a  possible  thing. 

Had  I  been  less  occupied  I  should  have  thanked  you 
for  a  prescription  which  looks  as  if  it  would  have  been 
efficacious, —  if  I  could  have  taken  it.  But  in  one  re- 
spect my  constitution  is  an  unlucky  one  (we  talk  about 
constitutions  you  know,  in  politics  and  in  medicine, 
without  knowing  much  about  them) ;  the  smallest  quan- 
tity of  laudanum  deranges  the  action  of  the  liver,  and 
totally  suspends  the  course  of  the  bile,  and  this  of 
course  cannot  be  done  with  impunity.  Therefore  I 
cannot  venture  upon    any   prescription   which  contains 

VOL.  III.  F    F 


434  LETTERS    OF  1824. 

laudanum,  though  that  medicine,  and  that  alone,  I 
believe,  would  cut  short  this  obstinate  catarrhal  afflic- 
tion on  its  annual  appearances.  I  am  tolerably  well 
recovered  now,  though  still  with  some  remains  of  cough, 
but  it  is  uo  longer  attended  with  a  feverish  pulse  ;  and  as 
a  proof  that  my  strength  has  pretty  well  returned,!  took 
a  six  hours'  walk  this  morning,  and  crossed  Skiddaw,  on 
my  return,  at  about  three  parts  of  its  elevation. 

You  will  not  be  displeased  to  hear  that  my  second 
volume  is  making  good  progress  in  the  press,  so  that  I 
am  once  more  in  the  receipt  of  proof  sheets,  which  I 
am  lucky  enough  to  regard  as  one  of  the  pleasures  of 
life.  As  to  a  "  Book  of  the  State,"  there  are  some 
weighty  objections  opposed  to  a  very  strong  inclination. 
In  the  first  place,  I  have  many  works  in  hand  (you 
would  think  me  a  most  rash  and  audacious  man  did  you 
know  how  many),  and  am  this  day  fifty  years  old :  it  is 
time,  therefore,  seriously  to  ask  myself  what  upon  the 
common  calculations  of  life  I  could  possibly  have  time 
to  perform  ;  and  secondly,  were  I  to  undertake  such  a 
view  of  our  civil  histor)?,  the  Inconvenience  of  having  no 
great  library  within  reach  could  only  be  obviated  by  an 
outlay  in  books,  which  it  would  be  very  inconvenient 
for  me  to  aflTord  ;  for  it  has  so  happened  that  no  man's 
gains  in  this  generation  have  been  so  little  in  proportion 
to  his  reputation  and  his  labour  as  mine. 

I  must  not  conclude  without  thanking  you  for  setting 
Sir  Walter's  pen  in  motion.  He  wrote  me  a  very 
friendly  letter,  to  which  I  returned  an  immediate 
answer. 

All  below  unite  in  kind  regards.  The  girls  are  in 
expectation  of  the  arrival  of  a  Welsh  uncle  to-morrow 
(a  boy  of  fifteen  from  Westminster),  whom  they  have 
never  seen.  He  is  coming  to  pass  his  holiday  with  me, 
and  is  at  this  time  in  the  mail  coach  somewhere  about 


1824.  ROP.KRT    SOUTH EV.  435 

Leming   Lane.     I  have  seldom  seen  a  boy  more  after 
my  own  heart. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  Edith  May  Southey. 

Keswick,  July  24.  1824. 

My  elegant  Cygnet*, 

By  this  time  your  Elegancy  will  be  looking  for 
some  news  of  the  Swan  and  the  Swan's  nest.  The 
Swan  has  for  a  long  time  been  in  bad  feather ;  he  is 
now  at  last  looking  up  and  pluming  himself  once  more; 
and  if  your  companions  would  but  possess  themselves  of 
some  Veils,  like  those  in  the  German  story,  and  appoint 
a  meeting,  he  would  be  ready  to  take  wing  with  them 
for  a  flight  among  the  mountains. 

You  are  now  in  a  good  land, —  a  land  flowing  with 
clouted  cream  and  laver,  which  are  better  things  than 
milk  and  honey;  a  land  of  fish  and  of  cyder,  and  where, 
moreover,  the  strong  beer  is  good  ;  a  land  also  of  squab 

*  The  allusion  is  to  some  lines  of  Amelia  Opie's,  written  by  her 
in  Mrs.  AVarter's  Album  on  Southey's  leaving  Norwick,  30th  Jan. 
1824. 

Too  short  was  thy  stay  here,  'twas  transient  and  sweet ! 

It  was  Hail !  and  Farewell !  —  yet  'twas  pleasant  to  meet, 

And  see  thee,  fam'd  Swan  of  the  Derwent's  fair  tide 

With  that  elegant  cygnet  that  floats  by  thy  side ; 

Alas !  that  thy  visit,  that  long  promis'd  boon 

Should  be  brief  as  the  splendour  of  winter's  chill  noon ! 

But  in  one  little  week,  quite  exhausted  and  dry, 

Is  that  cup  of  delight  which  thy  presence  filled  high  ! 

Yet  still  we  with  grateful  emotion  can  say, 

Though  the  draught  was  but  shalloio,  the  wine  was  Tohmj ! 

Amelia  Oni:. 

F  F    2 


436  LETTERS   OF  1824. 

pie;  a  plentiful  land,  a  good  land,  only  not  so  good  as 
the  neighbouring  land  of  Somersetshire.  I  should  not 
like  you  to  be  settled  in  London  by  marriage,  nor  in 
Ireland,  nor  in  Scotland,  nor  in  the  fens  of  Lincoln- 
shire, which,  suitable  as  they  are  for  water-fowl,  are  not 
suitable  for  my  cygnet.  Devonshire  or  Somersetshire 
would  do  better;  or  Gloucestershire,  though  inferior, 
might  do, —  or  Cornwall;  but  not  the  ugly  middle  of 
England,  nor  the  eastern  counties.  Love  may  be  will- 
ing enough  to  take  up  with  spare  diet,  a  meagre  county, 
and  a  raw  air  ;  but  plenty  and  a  mild  climate,  and  a 
beautiful  and  good  country,  agree  better  with  him ;  and 
you  may  depend  upon  it  that  there  is  no  better  diet  for 
love  than  what  Devonshire  affords.  Miss  Wood's  grand- 
mother, you  know,  gained  a  husband  by  a  bowl  of 
cream.  I  remind  you  of  it  as  a  caution  ;  you  are  in  a 
land  of  cream,  and  wives,  peradventure,  may  be  won  by 
it  as  well  as  husbands;  but  if  it  should  be  so,  I  shall 
not  object  to  the  country,  —  nay,  I  should  prefer  it  to 
most  others,  for  I  have  still  an  inkling  for  the  west. 
Moreover,  it  is  a  good  country  for  geese,  and  if  for  geese 
it  must  be  good  for  swans  also,  and  therefore  a  good 
country  for  a  cygnet  to  settle  in.  Take  care  of  swan- 
hoppers.  Rumpelstilzchenen  has  been  very  poorly,  but 
is  now  in  tolerable  health,  llurlyburlybuss  has  not 
been  seen  for  some  days.  I  have  put  on  some  new 
striped  trowsers  to-day  ;  also  I  have  a  drab  jacket,  and 
drab  trowsers,  not  to  mention  the  blue  Pascoe  which  I 
brought  down.     Think  of  the  richness  of  my  wardrobe. 

Once  more  beware  of  swan-hoppers. 

Your  affectionate  father, 

The  Swan. 

P.S.   Are  you  learning  to  swim  ? 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHET.  437 

To  Walter  Savage  Landor,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Aug.  14.  1824. 

My  dear  Landor, 

I  am  so  completely  removed  from  what  is  called 
literary  society  (which  is  at  this  time  about  the  worst 
society  in  the  world)  that  not  a  breath  of  opinion  con- 
cerning your  book  has  reached  me,  nor  have  I  seen 
anything  which  has  been  written  concerning  it,  except 
Julius  Hare's  paper  in  the  "  London  Magazine."  A 
more  striking  book  never  issued  from  the  press  in  these 
kingdoms,  nor  one  more  certain  of  surviving  the  wreck 
of  its  generation,  and  this  not  from  the  adventitious 
importance  of  the  subject,  but  from  the  excellence  of 
the  workmanship  ;  for  your  prose  is  always,  what  the 
most  felicitous  passages  of  your  poetry  are,  as  excellent 
in  the  expression  as  in  the  conception. 

My  own  "  Colloquies  "  are  now  so  far  advanced,  that 
it  will  soon  become  my  primary  object  to  complete 
them.  They  will  contain  a  connected  and  extensive 
view  of  our  existing  states  of  society,  with  all  its  erro- 
neous evils  ;  and  I  hope  the  statement  will  be  startling 
enough  to  make  some  of  our  political  men  (I  will  not 
call  them  statesmen)  rub  their  eyes.  You  will  feel  in 
the  perusal,  as  I  do,  that  where  there  is  most  difference 
in  our  views,  it  is  to  be  explained  by  the  difference  of 
latitude  between  Tuscany  and  Cumberland.  I  should 
agree  more  nearly  with  you  in  Florence,  and  at  Keswick 
you  would  find  yourself  more  in  sympathy  with  me. 

By  way  of  relieving  the  "  Dialogues,"  I  introduce  some 
of  them,  with  descriptions  of  the  scenery  which  lies  within 
the  circuit  of  my  usual  walks  ;  half  a  dozen  views  of  it, 
admirably  drawn  by  William  Westall,  are  now  in  the 
engraver's  hands.  The  book  will  command  notice,  and 
provoke  hostility.  One  edition  will  sell;  some  of  the 
rising  generation   will   be   leavened  by   it,   and  iti   the 

F  r  .". 


438  LETTERS   OF 


1824. 


third  and  fourth  generations  its  foresight  will  be  proved, 
and  perhaps  some  of  its  effects  may  be  seen. 

The  books  you  sent  me  were  lucky  enough  to  escape 
all  inquiry.  I  have  been  reading  "  Casaubon's  Letters." 
If  my  "  Book  of  the  Church  "  has  reached  you  (as  I 
trust  it  has,  with  its  companions),  you  will  see  that  I 
ought  to  have  read  these  letters  before  ;  you  will  per- 
ceive also  that  the  view  which  they  have  led  you  to  take 
of  James's  character  very  much  accords  with  the  opinion 
that  I  have  expressed  concerning  him. 

My  family,  thank  God,  is  going  on  well.  The  two 
eldest  girls  are  in  the  South,  and  greatly  do  I  miss 
them.  My  little  boy  is  old  enough  to  have  begun  upon 
Latin  grammar,  and  a  happier  creature  does  not  at  this 
time  exist  upon  tliis  wide  earth.  It  is  in  our  power  to 
make  children  happy  while  they  are  children  ;  and  yet 
how  generally  is  their  happiness  curtailed,  and,  as  far  as 
nature  will  permit,  destroyed  by  unwise  restrictions  and 
the  miserable  discipline  of  our  great  schools  in  which 
boys  are  bred  up  to  the  abuse  of  power.  If  Cuthbert 
lives,  and  I  have  to  instruct  him,  he  will  escape  these 
evils ;  but  how  uncertain  this  must  needs  be  I  am  fully 
sensible.  Last  Thursday  I  completed  the  fiftieth  year 
of  my  age.  My  little  boy  is  only  in  his  sixth.  I  may 
put  him  in  the  way  which  he  should  go,  and  direct  him 
ill  it  when  I  can  accompany  him  no  farther,  but  it  is  not 
likely  that  1  should  see  much  of  his  progress. 

Here  in  England  we  are  in  an  extraordinary  state  of 
quiescence,  not  a  grievance  is  afloat,  and  few  persons 
ask  themselves  what  is  to  become  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion of  educated  men  who  can  find  no  room  in  the  three 
professions,  and  for  whose  lives  there  is  no  demand,  nor 
what  are  to  be  the  consequences  of  an  unlimited  and  il- 
limitable increase  of  capital,  which  even  the  bubble  of  fo- 
reign loans  does  not  appear  to  check,  nor  when  the  manu- 
facturing system  is  to  end,  which  breeds  yahoos  as  fast  as 


1824.  IIOBERT    SOUTHEY.  439 

they  can  be  bred,  and  invents  machinery  to  throw  them 
out  of  employ.  One  remarkable  fact  of  general  educa- 
tion is  beginning  to  show  itself.  Above  fifty  Weekly 
Miscellanies  are  published  in  London  at  two  pence  and 
three  pence  each,  and  it  is  much  the  smaller  portion 
that  deal  either  in  irreligion  or  in  discontent ;  the  rest 
are  useful  and  amusing,  and  the  sale  is  prodigious.  This 
is  a  good  symptom  among  many  evil  ones, 

I  have  been  getting  on  with  my  *'  Tale  of  Paraguay," 
and  when  I  have  once  escaped  from  that  most  difficult 
of  all  stanzas,  I  shall  feel  like  a  racer  let  loose. 

God  bless  you, 

R.  S. 


To  John  JiickmarL,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Sept.  12.  1824. 

My  dear  R., 

You  have  heard  that  I  am  engaged  in  an  incre- 
dible number  of  works.  The  booksellers  are  to  blame 
for  something,  announcing  as  an  intention  what  has 
merely  been  mentioned  as  a  project  for  consideration ; 
but  the  truth  is  twofold,  to  wit :  first,  that  I  have  (and 
am  aware  of  having)  a  propensity  for  planning  works 
"  of  great  pith  and  moment,"  which  leads  me  to  dream 
of  more  than  can  ever  by  possibility  be  fulfilled ;  and, 
secondly,  that  in  pursuing  any  one  of  my  determined 
engagements  I  am  continually  meeting  with  something 
applicable  to  other  schemes  not  yet  in  course  of  execu- 
tion ;  and  in  this  way,  while  rearing  one  edifice,  I  collect 
materials  for  others.  It  is  not  with  me  as  it  would  be 
if  I  had  nothing  to  consider  but  how  to  employ  my 
time,  either  most  worthily  or  most  agreeably  to  my 
own  desires.     While  1  have  something  before  me  to  be 

F  F    4 


440  LETTERS   OF  1824. 

pursued  for  its  own  sake,  I  must,  of  necessity,  have 
something  in  hand  for  the  ways  and  means  of  the  year — 
something  on  the  present  sale  of  which  I  can  rely.  If 
I  have  many  irons  in  the  fire,  one  reason,  therefore,  is 
that  tliere  is  a  large  pot  to  boil.  Now,  I  have  grounds 
for  believing  that  the  part  of  my  time  which  must  be 
devoted  to  this  essential  object  could  in  no  way  be  so 
profitably  employed  as  in  sketching  our  Civil  History, 
with  a  view  of  showing  the  growth  and  progress  of  our 
constitution,  and  treating  those  portions  fairly  and  fear- 
lessly concerning  which  the  greatest  prejudices  prevail. 
Three  octavos  would  suffice  for  this,  down  to  the  death 
of  Anne ;  and  then  I  should  think  of  following  it  up 
with  the  age  of  George  III.,  introduced  by  a  brief 
view  of  the  two  intermediate  reigns. 

The  objection  is  what  you  point  out,  —  the  wide 
course  of  reading  wherein  I  should  be  tempted  to  dis- 
course ;  of  that,  however,  I  should  not  have  much  ap- 
prehension, if  I  were  provided  with  the  books. 

At  present  I  am  getting  on  well  with  my  second 
volume,  and  with  certain  minora^  the  "  Dialogues " 
being  one.      God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 


To  Messrs.  Longman  §•  Co, 

Keswick,  Sept.  25.  1824. 

Dear  Sir, 

It  is  a  long  while  since  I  have  written  to  you, 
and  the  reason  has  been  that  I  have  been  otherwise 
employed  than  in  finishing  the  "  Tale  of  Paraguay." 
I  am,  however,  far  advanced  in  the  third  canto  (four 
being  its  extent),  and  il  will  be  ready  for  the  next 
season. 


1824.  liOliEUT    SOUTUEY.  441 

The  purport  of  my  writinj^  now  is  to  propose  a  re- 
publication of  Montluc's  •'  Commentaries,"  the  book 
wliich  Henri  said  ought  to  be  the  soldier's  Bible. 
There  is  an  old  translation  by  Charles  Cotton,  the 
angler  and  poet.  Coming  from  such  a  man,  it  is  likely 
to  be  in  a  vein  of  genuine  English.  I  would,  however, 
correct  it  where  needful ;  accompanying  it  with  a  pre- 
face and  notes,  and  take  care  of  it  afterwards  in  the 
"  Quarterly  Review."  It  is  the  very  best  book  of  its 
kind,  and  perhaps  unequalled  for  the  liveliness  and 
jia'ivete  of  its  manner. 

Thank  you  for  "  Spix  "  and  "  Martins"* — pupils  of 
Humboldt's  school,  but  without  his  genius.  Never- 
theless, it  is  an  interesting  book,  and  to  me  pecu- 
liarly so. 

Pray  be  kind  enough  to  pay  G.  Dyer  my  subscription 
for  his  "  Privileges  of  Cambridge,"  and  to  send  in  your 
next  parcel  the  second  volume  of  *'  May  you  like  it," 
the  Oxford  edition  of  "  Strype's  Annals"  (if  it  be 
published),  and  Sir  John  Malcolm's  "  Central  India." 

Yours  very  truly, 

Robert  Southey. 

P.S.  As  you  sometimes  reprint  American  books,  I 
xecommend  Buckminster's  "Sermons"  to  your  con- 
sideration. They  are  so  striking  and  so  good  that  they 
could  not  fail  of  success.  He  was  an  Unitarian,  but 
his  sermons  must  please  all  denominations.  I  lent  them 
two  or  three  years  ago  to  Richard  Sharpe,  and  he  liked 
them  so  much  tiiat  he  said  he  should  get  over  a  dozen 
copies  for  his  friends.     I  lent  them  to  a  clergyman,  and 

he  preached  one  of  them. 

R.  S. 

*  These    Travels_  in' Brazil   in  the  years  1817  toM  820  were 
published  this  year  in  two  vols.  8vo. 


442  LETTERS    OF  1824. 

To  the  Rev.  Neville  White. 

Keswick,  Oct.  13.  1824. 

My  dear  Neville, 

First,  let  me  thank  you  for  offering  to  join  me 
in  an  expedition  to  Holland,  when  I  may  find  it  possible 
to  undertake  one.  Most  truly  shall  I  rejoice  to  have 
such  a  companion.  I  am,  however,  under  something 
like  a  promise  of  going  to  Ireland,  when  I  take  flight 
next  May,  in  the  hope  of  escaping  from  my  annual 
visitation,  to  visit  the  Bishop  of  Limerick,  who  came 
hither  about  seven  weeks  ago  with  the  hope  of  taking 
me  home  with  him.  At  that  time  I  was  not  sufficiently 
recovered  to  have  ventured  from  home,  even  if  it  had 
suited  me  on  other  accounts  to  have  absented  myself 
from  my  desk.  I  am  now,  thank  God,  once  more  in 
good  health,  and  take  a  good  deal  of  pains  in  the  way 
of  exercise  to  keep  myself  so.  The  want  of  a  com- 
panion in  these  walks  is  supplied  by  a  book,  so  that  the 
time  is  not  wholly  lost ;  this  habit  is  with  me  full  five- 
and-twenty  years  old,  and  I  can  read  as  well  when 
walking  as  at  the  fire-side. 

Your  newspaper  amused  me,  though  I  was  sorry  to 
see  how  eagerly  an  ill  feeling  seizes  upon  every  oppor- 
tunity of  showing  itself.  The  festival  must  have  made 
Norwich  all  alive,  and  will,  I  hope,  be  renewed  as  often 
as  is  prudent.  Perhaps  there  is  no  other  mode  of 
bringing  so  many  people  together  for  the  purpose  of 
enjoyment  which  is  so  entirely  unexceptionable,  even  if 
the  charitable  application  of  the  money  were  not  con- 
sidered ;  and  this  is  a  very  disinterested  opinion,  from 
one  who  has  no  faculty,  and  consequently  no  taste,  for 
music. 

Mr.  Amyott  is  an  acquaintance  of  mine,  and  a  very 
obliging  person  he  is.  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  pro- 
curing me  some  Peninsular  information  some  years  ago. 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  443 

I  am  glad  to  hear  Mr.  Wilkin  lias  commenced  printing, 
and  am  very  sure  that  I  shall  do  him  more  service  than 
I  could  have  done  by  becoming  his  editor.  The  matter 
of  my  reviewing  the  work  is  settled. 

You  ask  me  concerning  the  "  Methodist,"  I  sent  a 
copy  of  the  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London  ;  he  thanked 
me  for  it,  and  in  a  sensible  reply  observed  upon  the 
difficulty  of  doing  anything  in  the  way  of  a  formal  ne- 
gotiation. Meantime  individual  discretion  might  do 
something,  and  he  thought  the  Methodists  might  very 
usefully  be  encouraged  in  the  colonies,  and  perhaps  in 
Ireland  also.  I  had  a  second  communication  from  Mark 
Robinson,  who  is  a  local  preacher  at  Beverley.  You 
will,  of  course,  understand  that  he  knows  nothing  of  my 
laying  the  business  before  the  Bishop.  The  second 
letter  related  to  the  probability  of  the  church  Method- 
ists separating  from  the  Conference,  and  showed  a  great 
tendency  among  them  to  split  into  parties.  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  Methodism  has  in  this  country 
reached  the  point  in  which  the  main  body  will  not  be 
progressive  in  numbers,  rather  maintaining  its  popula- 
tion than  increasing  it,  and  losing  as  many  by  defection 
and  schism  as  it  acquires  by  proselytism  and  birth. 
But  this  rather  alters  the  nature  of  the  danger  to  the 
Establishment  than  diminishes  it ;  for  every  new  sect 
that  branches  off  has  a  fresh  principle  of  increase.  I 
asked  Mark  Robinson  to  direct  me  to  information  con- 
cerning some  of  these  sects, —  the  Ranters,  &c.,  which 
he  has  not  yet  done.  If  I  could  obtain  sufficient  docu- 
ments, it  is  most  likely  that  I  should  prepare  a  paper 
on  the  subject.     God  bless  you,  my  dear  Neville. 

Yours  affectionately, 

R.  S. 


444  LETTERS   OF  1824. 

To  Mrs.  Hughes. 

Keswick,  Oct.  15.  1824. 

My  dear  Madam, 

My  employments,  thank  Heaven,  are  such  that 
they  allow  me  to  be  always  at  leisure,  and  this  is  a 
blessing  which  would  compensate  for  more  untoward 
circumstances  than  have  fallen  to  my  lot ;  so  great  a 
one,  indeed,  that  if  I  had  sold  my  time  for  any  official 
situation,  I  verily  believe  I  should  have  been  as  uncom- 
fortable as  poor  Peter  Schlemil  when  he  had  parted 
with  his  shadow.  But  if  I  were  busier  than  I  am,  or 
ever  shall  be,  it  would  always  give  me  pleasure  to  re- 
ceive a  letter  from  you.  I  believe  we  can  all  of  us  find 
time  for  what  we  like. 

Dr.  Hughes's  kind  present  (for  which  I  thank  him 
truly)  will  probably  find  a  speedy  conveyance  from  your 
neighbours  in  the  Row.  The  book  will  not  be  the  less 
welcome  for  Cuthbert's  sake,  who  having  some  three 
years  ago,  when  Dr.  Bell  asked  him  whether  he  would 
choose  to  be  an  archbishop  or  a  carpenter,  preferred  the 
archbishopric,  verily  looked  upon  Canterbury  afterwards 
as  his  allotted  portion  in  this  world,  and  used  to  talk 
with  great  complacency  of  what  he  should  do  when  he 
came  to  live  at  Lambeth,  when  he  was  to  liave  more 
books  than  his  father.  He  was  ill  enough  to  make  us 
very  anxious  about  a  fortnight  ago,  with  a  bilious  fever ; 
but,  thank  God,  he  has  perfectly  recovered  from  it,  and 
at  present  we  are  all  well.  I  have  been  somewhat  seri- 
ously an  invalid  during  the  summer  ;  the  cough,  how- 
ever, has  fairly  departed  ;  and  being  once  more  in 
tolerable  condition,  I  am  taking  all  dutiful  pains  to 
keep  myself  so. 

I  had  neither  seen  nor  heard  of  the  foolish  apology 

for  Mrs. ,  which   is   enough    to  shame   her  out  of 

Quakerism.     Without  the  aid  of  Cupid  (who,  however. 


1824.  ROBERT   SOUTIIEY.  445 

has  worked  many  conversions  in  both  sexes)  I  can 
account  very  satisfactorily  for  her  becoming  a  Quaker. 
She  was  bred  nominally  in  Unitarianisni,  and  that,  too, 
of  the  laxest  kind ;  and  it  was  but  nominally,  for  her 
father  belonged  to  that  sect  only,  because  it  was  neces- 
sary that  a  man  in  his  profession  should  seem  to  be 
of  some  religion.  She  grew  up  when  revolutionary 
opinions  were  taking  their  freest  course,  and  in  a  city 
where,  I  believe,  they  prevailed  more  than  in  any  other 
part  of  England.  Some  of  her  warmest  admirers  (and 
no  woman  had  more)  were  far  gone  in  unbelief;  they 
were  men  of  splendid  talents,  and,  in  other  respects,  of 
great  real  worth.  In  fact,  she  lias  always  lived  among 
persons  whose  speculations  were  under  no  restraint,  and 
who,  however  much  they  differed  among  themselves, 
agreed  in  that  rooted  dislike  to  the  Establishment, 
which  is  a  bond  of  union  between  the  darkest  bigots  of 
Popery,  the  wildest  fanatics,  and  the  most  thorough  in- 
fidels. In  the  state  of  mind  which  such  circumstances 
could  hardly  fail  of  producing  upon  a  woman  who  had 
always  been  flattered  for  her  talents,  but  with  a  lively 

fancy  and  a  good  heart,  Mrs. ,  from  a  hfe  of  gaiety 

in  London,  went,  at  the  age  of  about  forty-five,  to  nurse 
her  father,  whom,  in  his  old  age,  severe  bodily  infirmity 
had  awakened  to  some  sense  of  \\\e  projligacy  of  his  past 
life-  The  only  persons,  in  her  circle  at  Norwich,  who 
had  any  warmth  of  religious  feeling,  were  Quakers;  and 
were  you  to  know  her  "  Quaker  Abelard,"  you  would 
see  that  few  "  Eloisas  "  were  to  be  trusted  with  him  ; 
but  vviiatever  her  feelings  towards  him  may  be,  she 
wanted  something  more  for  her  imagination  and  her 
heart  than  the  cold  form  and  colder  creed  of  Unita- 
rianism  can  supply,  and  Quakerism  has  a  great  deal  for 
both  :  I  believe  she  is  sincere,  and  I  like  her  well 
enough  even  to  excuse  the  verses  which  she  has  written 
in  Edith's  "  i\lbum."     P>dith  will  tell  you  (for  she  must 


446  LETTERS    OF  1824. 

not   write)    the    ungracious    return    which    they    called 
forth. 

The  "  Peninsular  War  "  is  going  on  well  in  the  press, 
and  I  am  prosing  and  versing  in  as  good  heart  and  with 
as  much  good  will  as  if  all  the  world  liked  my  verse  and 
prose  as  well  as  you  are  pleased  to  do. 

I  would  fain  do  the  "  State  some  service ;  "  but  I  am 
beginning  to  act  upon  the  resolution  of  finishing  what  I 
have  begun/  and  working  up  the  materials  —  which  so 
large  a  part  of  my  life  has  been  spent  in  accumulating 
—  before  I  open  any  new  foundations.  Now  that  I  am 
half  a  hundred  years  old,  it  is  time  to  wind  up  my  ac- 
counts. 

Our  kindest  remembrances  to  Dr.  Hughes,  mine  also 
to  Mr.  H.,  and 

Believe  me,  dear  Madam, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Robert  Southey. 


Tu  the  Rev.  Neville  WJiite. 

Keswick,  Oct.  21.  1824 

My  dear  Neville, 

I  received  yesterday  the  frank  containing  your 
letter  and  the  first  sheet  of  "  Sir  T.  Browne."  It  can- 
not be  worth  while  to  send  that  sheet  back,  as  I  have 
no  remarks  to  make  upon  it,  further  than  to  say  that  it 
is  in  every  respect  what  could  be  wished.  Mr.  Wilkin 
seems  to  have  taken  infinite  pains  in  collecting  editions 
and  MSS.,  and  nothing  can  be  better  than  the  printing. 
It  might  be  worth  while  to  try  whether  or  not  the  ap- 
pearance would  be  improved  by  printing  the  notes  in 
columns.*  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  would  be  pleasanter 
for  the  eye  where  the  type  is  so  small,  and  also  as  dis- 

*  This  hint  was  followed,  and  the  notes  are  printed  in  double 
columns. 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY,  447 

tinguishirig  them  in  a  more  marked  manner  from  the 
text.  This  might  be  tried  upon  a  single  page.  I  am 
quite  certain  that  in  a  folio  the  eye  is  less  fatigued  when 
the  page  is  divided  into  columns,  than  when  it  has  to 
move  to  and  fro  along  a  long  line  ;  and  the  effect  must 
be  the  same  in  small  printing  upon  an  octavo  page.  A 
man  thinks  of  these  things  as  he  approaches  the  age  at 
which  it  becomes  necessary  for  him  to  economise  his 
sight. 

Having  written  so  recently,  I  have  nothing  to  add,  ex- 
cept to  request  tliat  you  will  present  my  compliments 
to  Mr.  Wilkin,  and  tell  him  I  am  very  glad  he  has  taken 
the  edition  into  his  own  hands,  for  I  verily  believe  he 
will  bestow  upon  it  more  diligence  than  any  other  per- 
son would  or  could  have  done.  I  have  no  memoranda 
upon  the  subject  which  could  be  of  any  use  to  him,  but 
I  will  be  of  all  the  use  I  can  when  the  work  is  pub- 
lished, and  with  the  least  possible  delay.  I  hope  there 
will  be  a  portrait,  and  the  name  given  in  an  autograph. 

Our  best  remembrances  to  your  fire-side  and  domestic 
circle.     God  bless  you,  my  dear  Neville, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  the  Rev.  Neville  White. 

Keswick,  Oct.  28.  1824. 

My  dear  Neville, 

This  case  of  the  "  Remains "  is  a  flagi-ant 
instance  of  what  men  will  do  who  have  no  other  prin- 
ciple than  the  principle  of  trade,  when  the  laws  leave, 
or  offer  them  a  loop-hole.  The  fellows  who  pirate  that 
work  would  rob  you  in  the  streets,  or  break  open  your 
house,  if  they  dared  do  it ;  they  have  no  sense  of 
honour,  or  of  right  and  wrong  to  restrain  them. 


448  LETTERS    OF  1824. 

I  would  advise  that  your  cheap  edition  be  ir.'iie 
better  than  the  pirated  ones,  though  it  should  sell  for 
six  or  seven  shillings  instead  of  four  ;  the  type  not  be- 
ing quite  so  small,  nor  the  page  quite  so  crowded. 
Johnson  published  a  small  edition  of  Cowper  in  1799, 
in  two  volumes,  which  might  be  a  good  model ;  and  I 
do  not  see  why  there  should  be  any  unwillingness  to 
say  at  once  in  the  advertisement  that  the  property  of 
the  family  having  been  invaded,  it  is  necessary  to  state 
that  this  is  the  only  complete  edition. 

In  a  court  of  equity,  conducted  upon  principles  of 
equity,  I  have  no  doubt  that  your  cause  would  have 
been  good ;  but  the  Court  of  Chancery  has  ceased  to 
be  a  Court  of  Equity,  and  pays  as  much  deference  to 
the  quirks  and  quibbles  of  law  as  the  most  profligate 
advocate  could  desire. 

The  "  Life  "  is  yours  till  it  shall  have  been  pub- 
lished twenty-eight  years,  and  as  much  longer  as  I  may 
happen  to  live.  In  the  course  of  nature,  my  dear 
Neville,  you  are  more  likely  to  be  called  on  for  friendly 
counsel  in  the  arrangement  of  my  affairs,  after  my  de- 
parture, than  1  am  to  perform  the  duties  of  guardian  to 
your  son.  Provide  only  against  my  incapacity  for  busi- 
ness, and  count  upon  me,  as  I  do  upon  you,  for  the  full 
performance  of  all  your  wishes,  to  the  best  of  my  ability. 

My  mind  is  in  no  danger,  Neville,  from  tension.  It 
never  pursues  any  one  object  long  enough  to  be 
fatigued  with  it.  When  I  read  upon  my  walks,  it  is 
not  anything  that  requires  deep  attention  ;  it  is  some- 
thing that  amuses  the  intellect  rather  than  exerts  it, 
and  keeps  it,  perhaps,  in  a  more  quiescent  state  than  it 
might  be  if  left  to  its  own  operations.  The  book  is  as  a 
companion  with  whom  I  can  converse  when  I  like  ;  and 
as  it  is  always  some  volume  which  is  never  taken  up  at 
any  other  time,  there  is  the  wholesome  recreation  which 
change;  produces.      Were  you  in  the  house  with  me  for 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  449 

a  month,  you  would  be  convinced  that  I  am  anythintj 
rather  than  a  hard  student. 

Have  you  seen  NichoU's  "  Arminianism  and  Cal- 
vinism Compared  ?  "  It  is  put  together  in  a  most  un- 
happy way,  but  is  the  most  valuable  contribution  to 
our  ecclesiastical  history  that  has  ever  fallen  into  my 
hands. 

I  hope  soon  to  have  my  "  Colloquies  "  in  the  press. 
They  will  set  many  persons  talking,  and  some  few 
thinking.  They  will  draw  upon  me  a  good  load  of 
misrepresentation,  calumny,  and  abuse,  which  you  know 
how  much  I  regard;  and  if  they  do  not  succeed  in 
pointing  out  in  what  manner  impending  evils  may  be 
averted,  they  will  show,  at  least  to  future  ages,  that 
they  were  not  unforeseen.  Our  best  wishes  to  all  your 
circle.     God  bless  you,  my  dear  friend. 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

R.    SoUTHEY. 


To  Edith  May  Southey. 

Keswick,  Dec.  5.  1824. 

My  dear  E.  May, 

I  write  rather  because  there  is  a  frank  goino-  off 
this  evening,  than  for  a  better  reason.  However,  I  have 
two  things  to  say :  one  is,  that  I  wish  the  doctor  would 
order  for  me  two  pair  of  strong  shoes,  which  may  come 
in  your  box.  (N.  B.  Take  care  this  box  be  a  little  better 
corded  than  the  last,  the  corder  whereof  ought  to  have 
been  sent  to  the  treading-mill.)  Secondly,  I  advise  you, 
and  everybody  else  who  can  do  it,  to  hear  Mr.  Benson 
preach  at  St.  Giles's.  He  is  so  far  the  best  preacher 
I  ever  heard,  as  to  admit  of  no  comparison  with  any 
other. 

VOL.  III.  G   G 


450  LETTERS   OF  1824. 

Wordsworth  is  coming  over  to-morrow.  I  have  not 
seen  him  since  my  own  return  from  the  South. 

You  will  probably,  in  the  course  of  the  week,  see  a 
siveet  billet  of  mine  in  the  newspapers  noticing  a  few  lies 
of  Lord  Byron,  as  published  by  his  blunderbuss,  Cap- 
tain Medwin.  I  shall  just  say  what  is  needful,  and  no 
more. 

I  have  accepted  a  letter  of  Pope's,  for  the  sake  of 
transferring  it  to  you.  The  handwriting  is  so  like  Miss 
Tyler's,  that  I  could  have  taken  it  for  hers. 

The  third  canto  of  the  "  Tale  of  Paraguay  "  is  finished ; 
and  as  I  never  so  heartily  desired  to  be  at  the  end  of  any 
other  composition,  whether  in  prose  or  in  verse,  I  shall 
not  be  long  in  getting  through  the  remaining  one. 

Yesterday  I  received  Dr.  Wordsworth's  book  *,  which 
has  for  ever  put  the  question  to  rest.  It  is  impossible 
for  any  investigation  to  be  more  complete,  or  more 
conclusive.  I  have  written  in  it,  as  a  motto,  Latimer's 
saying,  "  Well,  there  is  nothing  hid  but  it  shall  be 
opened." 

And  now,  when  I  have  told  you  that  it  is  snorting 
weather,  and  that  I  am  about  to  write  a  paper,  for  the 
*'  Quarterly  Review,"  upon  the  Church  Missionary  So- 
ciety, I  have  no  more  to  say  farther  than  to  send  as 
much  love  and  as  many  kind  remembrances  as  can  be 
inclosed  in  a  frank,  to  be  distributed  at  your  discretion, 
and  to  assure  you  that  I  remain, 
Dear  Madam, 

With  the  profoundest  respect, 

Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

Robert  Southey. 

P.  S.  Your   mother,   my  governess,   means  to  write 
shortly  about  chains  and  I  know  not  what. 

*   Who  wrote  EikCjv  BairiXiKri  ? 


1824.  ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  451 

To  the  Rev.  Herbert  Hill^  S^c. 

Keswick,  Dec.  6.  1824. 

Dr.  Wordsworth  has  just  sent  me  his  inquiry  into 
the  question  of  who  wrote  "  EiVcov  Ba<TtXi/cr;?"  a  ques- 
tion which  would  now  be  set  for  ever  at  rest,  if  there 
were  not  a  political  feeling  interested  in  withstanding 
the  truth.  The  book  is  in  itself  so  beautiful,  and  of  so 
much  importance  in  English  history,  that  it  was  well 
worth  the  labour  of  this  minute  investigation  to  establish 
its  authenticity.  I  expected  his  brotlier  this  morning, 
but  the  weather  has  delayed  his  coming.  I  look  for  him, 
therefore,  to-morrow. 

When  I  have  added  that  a  regimental  record  of  the 
2nd  battalion  of  the  34th  has  been  sent  me  by  a  retired 
army  surgeon,  and  that  it  contains  a  few  matters  of  fact 
which  I  might  not  have  found  elsewhere,  you  will  have 
heard  all  I  have  to  relate  ;  unless  it  be  that  a  "History 
of  the  Peninsular  War,"  under  the  Duke  of  Wellina-- 
ton's  especial  patronage,  is  coming  forth,  for  the  sake  of 
which  the  Duke  refused  to  supply  me  with  any  materials. 
He  wished  for  a  history  which  should  be  purely  military: 
therein  he  was  right  enough ;   that  is,  it  is  quite  proper 
that  such  a  one  should  be  composed.     But  I  am  not  so 
sure  that  he  is  right  in  choosing  to  have  the  whole  can- 
vas for  his  own  whole  length  portrait,  instead  of  being 
the  prominent  figure  in  an  historical  piece ;  and  I  am 
sure  that  I  am  in  possession  of  many  more  of  his  most 
confidential  papers  than  he  would  ever  have  communi- 
cated, even  if  he  had  professed  to  be  most  communica- 
tive.    The  printer  moves  slowly  ;  but  I  am  getting  on 
well.     I  must,  however,  turn   my  main   attention  pre- 
sently to  the  Budget,  which  is  no  more  to  be  overlooked 
in  private  than  in  public  affairs.     My  subject  will  be  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  and  I  shall   probably  find 
matter  enough  for  a  paper  in  some  preliminary  views  of 

G  o  2 


452  LETTERS    OF  1824. 

the  subject,  and  in  what  they  are  doing  in  New  Zea- 
land, without  entering  into  their  proceedings  in  other 
quarters,  reserving  that  for  other  opportunity.  They 
have  large  means  at  command,  and  are  using  them 
wisely. 

My  niece  is  about  to  publish  a  translation  of  the 
"  Memoirs  of  the  Chevalier  Bayard." 

I  begin  to  read  Danish  with  some  facility ;  that  is, 
such  plain  prose  as  I  have  hitherto  attempted.  But  in 
truth  it  is  the  easiest  of  all  northern  languages  :  and 
the  only  difficulty  lies  in  its  copious  vocabulary  ;  my 
memory  is  not  so  retentive  of  words  as  it  was  in  youth, 
and  perhaps  it  would  have  been  stronger  than  it  is  if  I 
had  ventured  to  rely  upon  it  more  than,  for  the  sake  of 
accuracy,  I  thought  expedient. 

Murray,  I  hear,  has  advertised  my  "  Colloquies"  under 
a  wrong  title ;  a  blunder  which  would  not  have  hap- 
pened if  he  had  been  more  in  communication  with  me. 
It  is  of  no  consequence. 

Love  to  my  aunt  and  the  children.     God  bless  you. 

Iv.  S. 


To  the  Rev.  Neville  White. 

Keswick,  Dec.  21.  1824. 
My  dear  Neville, 

I  will  not  allow  you  to  subscribe  for  more  than 
one  copy,  nor  will  I  let  your  sister's  name  and  your 
brother  James's  be  given  in.  A  very  serious  objection 
to  this  mode  of  publication  is,  that  it  leads  those  friends, 
who  are  friends  indeed,  to  tax  themselves  most  unrea- 
sonably. When  these  four  copies  are  stricken  off  the 
list,  you  will  then  have  done  more  to  serve  me  in  this 
matter  than  any  other  individual.  And  this  I  knew 
you  would  do.  For  none  of  you,  I  thank  God,  are 
among  those  persons  with  whom  to  be  out  of  sight  is  to 
be  out  of  mind. 


1824. 


ROBERT    SOUTHEY.  453 


The  person  who  has  been  expelled  by  the  Conference 
preachers  at  Beverley  is,  I  have  no  doubt,  the  Mark 
Robinson  whose  letter  you  saw  ;  but  he  has  not  com- 
municated this  affair  to  me,  and  I  only  know  of  it  what 
the  newspapers  have  stated.  Concerning  the  Irish 
schism,  some  pamphlets  were  sent  me  some  time  ago  by 
a  Dublin  bookseller,  who  is  one  of  the  Church  Method- 
ists,— Martin  Keene,  I  think,  is  his  name  ;  and  I  have 
had  thought  of  making  a  paper  in  the  "  Q,.  R."  which 
should  comprise  a  brief  history  of  Methodism  from  the 
time  of  Wesley's  death.  If  you  remember,  I  obtained 
"  Kelham's  Life,"  through  your  good  offices,  from  Not- 
tingham, where  it  was  published.  I  have  since  got  at 
some  of  his  writings,  and  am  tolerably  well  informed 
upon  that  schism.  But  there  are  one  or  two  other 
points  on  which  I  want  information.  Upon  these  I 
applied  to  Mark  Robinson,  but  he  has  not  supplied  me, 
being,  I  suppose,  wholly  engrossed  with  his  own  affairs. 

I  suppose  you  have  heard  of  the  atrocious  libel  upon 
me  in  the  "  Morning  Chronicle,"  called  forth  by  my 
letter;  in  atrocity  it  exceeds  everything  of  the  kind 
that  I  have  ever  seen.  I  have  written  to  Turner,  and 
shall  be  guided  by  his  opinion,  whether  to  bring  an 
action  against  the  publisher,  founded  upon  the  last 
charge,  and  overlooking  the  other  lies  (foul  and  malig- 
nant as  they  are)  because  they  are  nothing  when  com- 
pared to  this  accusation  of  obscene  impieties.  I  think 
that  at  last  I  have  found  out  on  what  it  is  founded, — 
on  some  extracts  from  a  Roman  Catholic  book  of  devo- 
tions to  the  Virgin  Mary,  in  the  first  volume  of  the 
"Omniana."*  It  is  my  fortune,  my  dear  Neville,  to 
have  some  of  the  best  friends  in  the  world,  and  some  of 
the  most  diabolical  enemies  ;  and  to  despise  the  one  as 
heartily  as  I  esteem  and  love  the  other. 

*  See  Omniana,  vol.  i.  p.  123.  &c.  :^ 

G  G   3 


454  LETTEKS    OF  1824. 

I  noticed  the  advertisement,  and  hope  it  may  be  of 
some  use.  But  the  only  effectual  way  of  checking  this 
rascally  piracy  must  be  by  meeting  it  with  a  cheap 
edition,  which  may  be  always  upon  sale  in  the  provincial 
towns.  I  should  like  to  have  some  of  my  own  poems 
printed  in  that  manner, —  the  only  manner  by  which 
anything  can  ever  obtain  a  popular  sale ;  but  the  pub- 
lisher would  not  like  the  immediate  outlay,  would 
despise  the  small  return,  and  not  perceive  the  ultimate 
advantage.  So  my  books  must  wait  for  this  till  they 
are  set  afloat  in  this  form  after  my  death,  by  the  same 
unprincipled  spirit  of  trade  which  is  now  interfering 
with  the  "  Remains."     A  vile  spirit  it  is,  Neville ! 

You  will  never  believe  any  advertisement  concerning 
my  works  unless  it  says,  "  This  day  is  published." 
Murray  advertised  my  second  volume  for  last  month. 
248  pages  of  it  are  printed,  and  it  will  extend  to  800, 
so  you  see  how  far  it  is  from  the  conclusion.  Were  I 
to  pursue  it  uninterruptedly,  my  progress  might  be  very 
rapid,  but  this  is  never  my  practice ;  if  I  did,  it  would 
be  apparent  in  the  want  of  skill,  gracefulness,  and  ani- 
mation, which  must  always  be  betrayed  when  a  writer 
works  in  haste.  So  soon  as  my  interest  in  the  narrative 
flags,  or  as  I  find  any  difliculty  in  connecting  it  or  car- 
rying it  on,  I  lay  it  aside ;  at  present  it  is  in  good 
progress.  I  am  also  advancing  in  the  last  canto  of  my 
"Tale  of  Paraguay,"  which,  to  my  great  relief  and 
joy,  will  soon  be  finished ;  and  then  I  shall  take  up  my 
New  England  poem  in  good  spirits,  and  pursue  it  vigo- 
rously. 

My  daughters  will  return  as  soon  after  the  beginning 
of  February  as  an  opportunity  of  convoy  may  present 
itself.  We  are  beginning  to  look  with  some  impatience 
for  that  time.  Did  I  tell  you  that  my  brother  Henry  has 
bought  a  part  of  Watson  Taylor's  house  in  Harley  Street, 
which  he  is  now  dividing  off  and  fitting  up,  that  he  may 


1824,  ROBERT   SOUTHEY.  455 

remove  into  it,   having  outgrown  the  house  in  Queen 
Anne  Street?    God  bless  you,  my  dear  Neville, 
Yours  most  affectionately, 

Robert  Southey. 


To  John  Ricknian,  Esq. 

Keswick,  Dec.  26.  1824. 
My  dear  R., 

I  have  had  a  letter  from  Dr.  Stoddart,  praying 
me — almost  in  forma  pauperis  —  to  send  him  now  and 
then  a  letter  for  the  new  *'  Times,"  and  to  let  it  be 
known  that  I  do  so.  I  am  very  sorry  that  his  paper  is 
in  such  poor  repute  as  to  put  him  upon  this  expedient 
of  correspondence,  and  to  have  not  much  hope  that 
this  sort  of  correspondence  will  prove  a  better  specu- 
lation to  him  upon  this  scale  than  it  did  upon  a  larger 
some  years  ago.  No  doubt  you  have  heard  from  him 
to  the  same  effect.  I  have  promised  to  help  him  occa- 
sionally, in  hoj)eless  good  will.  His  paper,  in  spite  of 
every  possible  advantage,  is  dying  of  the  incurable  dis- 
ease of  dulness.  The  only  sure  means  of  saving  it  would 
be  to  put  it  into  the  hands  of  a  new  editor,  which, 
if  he  could  bear  to  do  it,  he  could  not  afford  to  do. 

The  "  Quarterly  Review "  is  at  last  consigned  to 
John  Coleridge ;  and  Murray  may  thank  me  for  having 
provided  him  with  an  editor,  for  he  knew  not  where  to 
find  one.  If  any  adequate  person,  supposed  to  be  ade- 
quate, could  have  been  found,  I  am  not  without  a  sus- 
picion that  my  recommendation  would  have  stood  in 
J.  C.'s  way,  both  in  Gifford's  opinion  and  in  Murray's ; 
Gifford  holding  me  to  be  too  liberally  inclined,  and 
Murray,  on  the  other  hand,  entertaining  as  equal  fear 
of  my  bigotry.  Both,  therefore,  would  be  disinclined 
to  an  editor  who  would  confide  in  me,  and  in  whom  I 

G  G  4 


456  LETTERS    OF  1824. 

could  confide.  The  change  will  be  of  serious  advantage 
to  the  "  Review  ;"  and  so  far  as  that  "  Review  "  acts 
upon  the  public,  a  very  desirable  one ;  and,  for  myself, 
I  shall  write  with  the  better  will,  as  being  no  longer 
liable  to  capricious  mutilations,  nor  in  any  danger  of 
hearing  what  I  have  said  in  one  number  purposely  con- 
tradicted in  the  next. 

If  the  weather  be  as  wet  on  the  Continent  as  it  is 
with  us,  Holland  will  be  in  some  danger  of  being 
drowned.*  I  see  they  have  called  in  Mr.  Telford,  at 
Bath,  in  a  case  of  this  kind.  What  a  noble  way  of 
spending  some  fifty  millions  it  would  be  to  employ  him 
in  taming  the  inundations  of  the  Rhine  and  its  tribu- 
taries, and  providing  the  snows  of  Switzerland  with  a 
safe  course  to  the  German  Sea.  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear 
that  Willey  is  quite  recovered.     God  bless  you. 

R.  S. 

To  Miss  Edith  May  Southey. 

Keswick,  1824. 

My  dear  E.  May, 

It  has  often  occurred  to  me  of  how  much  pre- 
sent interest  and  future  advantage  it  would  be  if  a 
domestic  chronicle  were  duly  kept  in  every  respectable 
family,  comprising  not  only  such  events  as  are  usually 
registered  in  the  blank  leaf  of  the  family  bible,  but 
everything  which  concerns  the  interests  of  any  of  its 
members  ;  and  also  all  those  great  little  affairs  w:hich  are 
in  private  life  what  wars  and  changes  of  ministry  are  to 
a  nation.  In  the  course  of  a  few  generations  such  a 
record  would  be  invaluable,  and  would  justly  be  con- 
sidered as  the  most  precious  of  all  heir-looms.  Now, 
though  it  is  far  too  late  in  life  for  me  to  commence  a 
register  of  this  kind,  there  is  one  portion  of  it  which 

*  It  was  an  ill  wish  to  a  Hollander,  "  That  he  should  be  un- 
dammed  in  this  world,  and  damn'd  in  the  next." 


1824. 


KOBEKT    SOUTHEY.  457 


may  be  supplied  by  recollection,  imperfectly,  indeed, 
but  sufficiently  to  preserve  from  entire  forgetfulness 
things  in  themselves  as  worthy  of  remembrance  as  nine- 
tenths  of  the  battles,  intrigues,  broils,  and  mutations 
whereof  history  is  composed.  And  therefore  I  sit  down 
to  compose,  as  faithfully  as  my  memory  enables  me,  a 
chronicle  of  the  great  little  events  which  have  occurred 
at  Greta  Hall  since  the  birth  of  that  daughter  who  was 
declared  to  be  as  ugly  as  a  Dodo.* 

The  top  of  the  house  at  that  time  was  flat,  and  co- 
vered with  pitched  cloths  and  a  slight  sprinkHng  of  fine 
gravel.  One  morning,  about  half  an  hour  before  our 
usual  time  of  rising,  our  bed-room  door  was  opened, 
and  Mrs.  C.  said,  "  Don't  be  frightened,  but  get  up  as 
fast  as  you  can,  —  the  house  is  on  fire  !"  For  the  pur- 
pose of  stopping  a  flaw  in  the  roof,  a  pitch-kettle  had 
been  put  on  the  fire  in  the  back-kitchen,  and  had  boiled 
over.  Luckily,  help  was  at  hand ;  there  was  nothing 
very  combustible  near,  and  the  flame  was  presently  ex- 
tinguished. 

One  of  the  maids  had  a  misfortune. 

Derwent  C,  being  then  between  three  and  four  years 
of  age,  swallowed  seventeen  shillings  and  sixpence  for  his 
amusement.  It  was  discovered  by  his  telling  his  mother 
that  he  had  eaten  her  two  yellow  shillings.  Mrs.  C.  came 
in  great  alarm  to  communicate  it  to  me  and  my  brother 
Henry,  then  a  student  of  medicine,  and  doctor-in-rus. 
I  remarked  that  this  was  work  for  a  gold-finder,  and 
the  student  in  medicine  offered  to  farm  the  patient  at 
half-a-crown  a  day,  or  sixpence  a  time,  till  the  money 
should  be  recovered,  and,  moreover,  to  be  at  all  the 
expense  of  recovering  it.  Her  fears  were  considerably 
relieved  by  this  proposal,  which,  however,  was  not  ac- 
cepted. The  money,  after  making  the  grand  tour  of 
Derwcnt's  interior,  came  into  the  world  again  next  day. 
*  See  5M/)ro,  Vol.  I.  p.  275. 


458  LETTEKS    OF  1824, 

All  the  maids  eloped  because  I  had  turned  a  man  out 
of  the  kitchen  at  eleven  o'clock  on  the  preceding  night. 
One  of  them  was  re-admitted  on  the  petition  of  her 
brother,  and  her  own  acknowledgment  of  her  fault. 
The  wages  of  the  other  two,  up  to  this  day,  were  calcu- 
lated and  distributed  to  the  poor  as  forfeited  by  their 
misconduct. 

I  bought  a  donkey,  and  named  him  John.  The  gar- 
den had  not  then  been  made,  and  when  John  was  called 
he  would  come  galloping  from  the  end  of  the  field, 
braying  for  joy,  and  put  his  head  in  at  the  parlour  win- 
dow for  a  piece  of  bread  at  breakfast  —  sometimes  he 
walked  into  the  room  for  it.  As  it  was  not  possible  to 
prevent  the  boys  of  this  disorderly  little  town  from 
abusing  this  poor  donkey,  we  were  obliged  to  part  with 
it.  Mr.  Spcdding  bought  it,  and  a  few  years  after- 
wards it  died  a  natural  death  in  the  churchyard ;  but,